My Husband Is Calling and Threatening Me; What Can I Do?
You’ve decided to get divorced, and your husband’s not taking it well.
He calls and texts. He calls and texts all the time. He won’t stop.
Some of the calls and texts are pleas for you to come back. Many are threats about what will happen if you divorce him.
You want him to stop calling and texting. You tell him to stop. He won’t stop.
What can you do?
First things first: I’m sorry this is happening to you. We’ve helped countless women through divorce in Utah, and this is a common story. The fear you feel is exactly what you should feel.
Here are some things that have been successful for our clients:
- Change your phone number.
This may seem drastic, but so is receiving 20 texts per day.
Changing your number doesn’t mean you can’t communicate with your husband. It does mean he is much less likely to harass you.
For future communication, open a new email account. Send your husband an email and let him know you’ll be communicating by email from now on. This almost always ratchets down the harassment and improves communication.
This isn’t a forever solution, but it is effective in times of phone harassment.
- Have someone your husband trusts talk to him and ask him to knock it off.
This could be your husband’s best friend, or his mother. Whoever your husband trusts and can speak truth to him will do.
Often, when a trusted third person lets him know he’s harassing and acting crazy, it has a serious impact on his behavior.
- Call the police and talk to them about “electronic communication harassment.”
Depending on the amount calls and texts, and what’s in them, your husband may have committed “electronic communication harassment.” That’s a crime.
The police are usually pretty good about helping women who are going through this.
You’ll speak with a police officer who will read your texts and see how often your husband has called.
The officer will likely call your husband (often while your still there talking with the officer) and tell him if he continues doing what he’s doing, he’ll be cited for harassment.
Usually, that one call really helps cool things off. Your husband’s communications will very often change significantly after that call.
If they don’t change, though, go back to the cops.
Electronic Communication Harassment
If you would like to read the Utah definition of electronic communication harassment, here it is:
| (2) | A person is guilty of electronic communication harassment and subject to prosecution in the jurisdiction where the communication originated or was received if with intent to intimidate, abuse, threaten, harass, frighten, or disrupt the electronic communications of another, the person:
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Call Brown Family Law
If you find yourself facing a Utah divorce, please call 801.685.9999 for a legal in-person consultation, or use our online scheduling tool.
Schedule a time to talk with us – we are here to help you. When you meet with your attorney, we will go over your entire case, your children, your money and everything else that’s important to you. Our goal is to remove the fear associated with divorce by protecting your money and maximizing your time with your kids, all within 3-6 months. We look forward to meeting with you!
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