How Do I Protect Myself Against False Abuse Allegations?

If you fear your spouse may make false claims of abuse against you, in order to get you quickly ordered out of the house, or to gain an advantage in a custody dispute, there are a couple of things you can do to help protect yourself:

1. Never let your spouse suck you into a fight — even a verbal one. Once it starts getting heated, just withdraw from your spouse’s presence. While this won’t protect you against a spouse who is willing to make up a false abuse allegation out of whole cloth, it will protect you from a spouse who is trying to set you up to do something which will allow him or her to claim s/he was physically harmed or put in fear of imminent bodily harm.

2. While this is not always feasible, it is ideal to always have a friendly witness present whenever you are in the presence of your spouse or significant other.

3. Although it probably wouldn’t be feasible to do around the clock, if you are afraid of a false abuse allegation arising out of a particular encounter, you can protect yourself by videotaping the encounter. Just don't do it secretly.