An injunction is a court order that compels a person to stop or start doing a specific thing. If you are going through a divorce, you can use an injunction to help you with difficulties that may crop up during the process. Here are the three forms of injunctions you may use:

Temporary Restraining Order

A temporary restraining order is one of the most common forms of injunctions divorcing couples see; this is what you should seek if you need emergency relief from an injustice. As the name suggests, this type of injunction is only valid for a limited period, which is usually relatively short too. For example, it may be granted for one or two weeks. The idea is to safeguard the petitioner's interests until the court can meet to deliberate on the matter and make a permanent ruling.

In most cases, a temporary restraining order is valid almost as soon as you can file the petition and meet its legal requirements. This is what you may use, for example, to prevent your spouse from kicking you out of the house or getting near you (where they may course you physical harm) if you are divorcing a difficult partner.

Preliminary Injunction               

A preliminary injunction is also temporary in nature, but its main difference with a temporary restraining order is that a preliminary relief is used to preempt potential harm. That is, if your partner is already causing you harm and you need them to stop, then you should get a temporary restraining order.

However, if your spouse hasn't harmed you yet but you think they may do so in the near future, you need a preliminary injunction. For example, if you suspect that your spouse may take it upon themselves to flee the state or country with the kids, then you should get a preliminary injunction to prevent them from doing that until the court can make a custody determination.

Permanent Injunction

This is the third type of injunction that divorcing couples may use, but it is not as common as the first two types. As the name suggests, it is not granted for a limited period; that is, it doesn't have an automatic end date as the first two forms of injunctions. An aggrieved spouse can always go back to court to seek a modification, especially if the circumstances under which the initial injunction was granted change. Permanent injunctions are typically granted at the end of the divorce process.

Do you have an issue with your divorce that you need to be handled as soon as possible? Talk to your divorce lawyer to see if you can petition the court for it; don't take matters into your own hands. You can find family law attorneys through law firms such as Law Offices of Sherman and Gastell.