What is an Alberta King’s Bench Protection Order?
Courts usually reserve emergency protection orders (EPOs) for urgent cases but acknowledge that other scenarios may also require protective measures. If you are experiencing family violence but the situation is not urgent or an emergency, you may want to consider a King’s Bench protection order.
A King’s Bench protection order is not made on an ex-parte basis, which means you are required to provide notice to the other side by serving them with a copy of your application.
A King’s Bench protection order has similar conditions to an EPO. For example, the court can:
- Order the other party to stay away from your home, job, or children’s school
- Grant you exclusive possession over the family home for a specified period of time, as well as temporary possession of other property, like a car
- Prohibit any contact between the other party and you or your family, through phone, text, or email
One key difference is that a King’s Bench Protection Order can also require the person causing the violence to reimburse you for related costs. The duration of this order is up to one year, but the court will specify the exact length.
