Does Mother get children when restraining order is filed against Father for domestic violence

Not necessarily, would depend on where the children are already living, temporary custody for their best interest, if there is already an Order in place, etc. She needs the assistance of a lawyer to present evidence in the best possible light for her, regardless if who currently has what. The post left some unanswered questions.

I agree with my colleagues. It is best to speak to a lawyer about the restraining order. Depending on the circumstances, judges may grant temporary ex parte (meaning that the father would not have notice of the hearing before the judge or be present before the judge) custody to a mother who files a Petition for a Temporary Protective Order, but again, it all depends upon the situation. Since a child is involved, I would suggest calling and getting quotes from different law firms for representing you in this matter and hiring an attorney immediately. Stalking is serious behavior; a lawyer can help you understand your option to protect the child involved. Good luck to you.

No, the mother does not get the children automatically based on a restraining order. It depends on the circumstances and the order. If there is an issue of custody, it is best to involve a lawyer.

I agree that Mother should talk to a family law attorney. If children are living with her and she lists them on her application for a Temporary Protection Order, Father may be temporarily restrained from contacting the children. However, a Father cannot be permanently retrained from his biological children by a Civil Protection Order (Temporary or Permanent). At best, obtaining the protection order will buy Mother time to begin an APR (Allocation of Parental Responsibilities) case. Informally, APRs are known as custody cases. She might want to talk to an attorney before even applying for a Temporary Protection Order to make sure that doing so won't be viewed in the APR as a tactic to alienate the children from their father. If she really is a victim of DV, that's unlikely, but it's certainly something that shouldn't be ignored either.