Yes. If you are in a violent relationship, you may be eligible to obtain a 50B Protective Order against an abuser if you and/or your children have suffered acts of domestic violence from an abuser with whom you have a "personal relationship". A personal relationship is defined under our laws to mean that you and the alleged abuser are either: 1. current of former spouses; 2. persons of the opposite sex who live together or have lived together; 3. related as parents and children or as grandparents and grandchildren unless the child or grandchild is under the age of 16; 4. have a child in common; 5. current or former household members; or 6. persons of the opposite sex who are or have been in a dating relationship (A "dating relationship" is one wherein the parties are romantically involved over time and on a continuous basis during the course of the relationship. A casual acquaintance or ordinary fraternization between persons in a business or social context is not a dating relationship.) N.C.G.S. § 50-B(b) If your protective order is granted, it will order the abuser to stay away from and to not assault, threaten or harass you and/or your children. It can also give you many other types of emergency assistance, including granting you exclusive possession of your residence, requiring your abuser to maintain suitable housing for you, awarding you temporary custody of your children, ordering your abuser evicted from your residence, or requiring the abuser to pay child or spousal support payments. The order will typically order your abuser to refrain from harrassing you and/or your children, including prohibiting him or her from coming near your home, workplace or schools. It can also prohibit the abuser from purchasing any firearms and may order him or her to pay your attorney's fees.