Not Fighting a Domestic Violence Charge Leads to These Consequences

Last Updated on April 19, 2025

Not fighting a domestic violence charge can destroy your freedom, your rights, your money, your family, and your future. You can lose everything, even for something that wasn’t as clear-cut as it looked at first.

If you’ve been hit with a domestic violence charge and you think it might just blow over or that staying quiet is the safest move, you need to seriously rethink that.

This isn’t the kind of situation that gets better if you ignore it. In fact, doing nothing can be the absolute worst decision you could make. Domestic violence is never taken lightly. Even if it’s your first offense, the consequences hit hard, and they last for a long time. 

And if you don’t fight it, you’re basically signing up for penalties that go way beyond just jail time.

Here’s what happens when you don’t stand up and defend yourself against a domestic violence charge.

You Could End Up in Jail 

Domestic violence is usually treated like a violent crime. That means the legal system puts it in the same category as serious assaults, not just minor arguments. If you’re convicted, even for something like intimidation or a shove, you’re likely going to jail. For real.

Even a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction usually means at least 6 months in jail. Not probation. Not community service. Actual time in a jail cell. And if it’s a felony, you’re looking at a minimum of 1 year, and in many cases, it can shoot up to 4, 6, or even 10+ years, depending on how bad the situation was.  

You’ll Lose Your Right to Own a Gun, Possibly Forever

The law is clear: Anyone convicted of domestic violence, misdemeanor or felony, can’t have firearms or ammo.

That includes:

• Buying a new gun
• Keeping one you already own
• Even borrowing someone else’s for hunting or sport

And if you want your rights back, it’s not simple. You can’t just wait it out and get them restored after a few years. The only way to get those rights back is to overturn the conviction in court. That’s a complicated legal process, and if you didn’t fight the original charge, you’ve already made that way harder for yourself. 

Probation Is Basically a Legal Trap

Let’s say you do get probation instead of jail, maybe because it’s your first charge, or the judge thinks you’re not a threat. That might sound like good news, but it’s not an easy way out.

Here’s what probation for a domestic violence charge actually includes:

• You can’t leave the state without permission (travel restrictions)
• You’ll have random drug and alcohol tests
• You’re banned from having weapons
• You might be electronically monitored
• You can’t get into any other kind of legal trouble

Mess up once, and you’re going to jail, no second chances. Even something that seems small, such as missing a counseling session, traveling without approval, or testing positive for alcohol, can break your probation and land you right back in court.

Judges don’t play around with this. And if you violate probation, you could get hit with even more time behind bars than the original sentence.

On top of that, you’ll probably have to:

• Take domestic violence treatment classes (and they’re mandatory, not optional)
  Go through evaluations
• Attend anger management or substance abuse programs
• Pay for all these programs yourself

Skipping any of these is treated like refusing to follow the law. And if you don’t fight your charge, the court has no reason to go easy on you; they’ll assume you need all of it.

You Might Get Hit With a Restraining Order 

Even just being accused of domestic violence without a conviction can result in a restraining order (also called a protective order).

Here’s how that works:

• You’ll be banned from contacting the other person; no calls, texts, emails, or even messages through mutual friends
• You might be forced to move out of your home
• You could lose access to your own kids or pets
• You’ll be blocked from going to certain places (like the victim’s workplace, school, etc.)

This can completely flip your life upside down. Imagine not being allowed to see your kids because of one incident. Or being kicked out of your house and having nowhere to go. And if you violate a restraining order, even by accident, you’re looking at more criminal charges, fines, and jail time.

Also, restraining orders often go hand in hand with criminal charges. So while the court is deciding your punishment, you’re already dealing with serious restrictions on your life. And they don’t just go away.

What You Should Do Instead of Doing Nothing

If you’re facing a domestic violence charge, doing nothing is the worst possible move. Courts don’t give second chances just because you didn’t mean it or because you thought it would sort itself out.

You need to fight smart, hard, and early. That means hiring a skilled, experienced defense attorney who knows how to challenge weak evidence, expose exaggerations, and argue for the lowest possible sentence or even dismissal.