Are same-sex partners eligible for Family Abuse protective orders?
Yes, with some restrictions. Family Abuse protective orders (see VA Code 16.1-279.1*) are available only against a “family or household member” as that term is defined in VA Code 16.1-228, which includes couples who have “cohabited” together within the past 12 months. The statute does not specifically define the word “cohabit,” but courts have generally interpreted it to apply to unmarried couples who live together in a romantic or intimate relationship. The law does not explicitly address whether same-sex couples are included in this term, but it does not explicitly exclude them either. In 2006, the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia issued an opinion that, while discussing related matters, assumed that a court could consider same-sex couples to be “cohabiting” for purposes of the family abuse definition. This implicitly overruled an earlier opinion by that office which had stated that same-sex couples could not “cohabit,” though without actually referring to the earlier opini
