My question involves restraining orders in the State of: Georgia. I filed a TPO against my ex-husband, my son's father. This will be the first appearance in court. He is mentally unstable and I have documented several incidents of violence and threats to our (my son and I) lives. He is $4,000 behind in child support and my attorney has filed a contempt order. We just went to court for a modification of child support and he has not complied with the terms of that modification (an in-kind trade of assets in lieu of child support, which at the time the ex had agreed to and the judge granted permission, but since then the ex changed his mind and refuses to comply). At the time the TPO was filed, it was a domestic violence incident where he became physically and verbally violent, damaged my car, threatened my life, but no charges were filed for this because I did not have any apparent injuries. However, he was arrested for an outstanding bench warrant for a DUI; he had been hiding from the warrant for over a year. When they arrested him he tried to run from the officer and received an obstruction charge. I immediately began the TPO process, and had the order signed and filed with the clerk of courts by 12:00 noon the next day, hoping that they would serve him the order in jail, but he was released on an O.R. bond 30 minutes before I arrived. Part of the paperwork included a checklist assessing the likelihood that an abuser will kill, I checked all 10. My questions are: what happens if he does not show up, will he be arrested then for nonpayment of child support, what happens if he makes accusations against me in court, can he be ordered to seek mental evaluation and treatment, should I bring witnesses, and any other advice you could provide that would help. I do have an attorney but was unable to reach him last week to ask him these questions. My son witnessed the violence in one incident, I did not report it but did document this and have transcribed statements from my husband, son, and son's friend describing in their own words what happened. Should I bring this up because I was told that if my son witnessed violence it could result in child abuse charges against me. I thank you in advance for your help.

