This topic is one of the things which worries fathers who are fighting a restraining order during a divorce - and quite rightly too. Unfortunately during some custody battles, your ex's lawyer will advise her to file a bogus allegation of abuse to justify filing a restraining order complaint... which also means the access to see your kids is immediately withdrawn in 99% of cases.

As if that situation isn't worrying enough, the sad fact is that if the order becomes permanent, it will be marked in your permanent criminal record.

Basically, unless you can stop the "ex parte" (temporary) order becoming permanent, areas of your life that you haven't even dreamed of will be affected by this little black marker against your name. That's why fighting a restraining order during divorce is so important, and not just for the sake of your children.

To file the order against you, it will have been lodged in your home state. If it is granted permanently, its conditions are enforceable nationally. There are no exceptions, because order enforcement is covered under the US Constitution's 'Full Faith and Credit Clause'.

The next stage is when the law agency in your home state make the order live on the national law enforcement database, the National Crime Information Center registry (NCIC). The NCIC is a national electronic database which is accessible to all American law enforcement agencies.

You may be wondering what the implications are of failing to win a dismissal when you're fighting a restraining order. After all, if it's just a marker on a computer database, fighting the restraining order might not be too important, right? Wrong - that's a dangerous way of thinking. Sure, your custody battle is extremely important. Your divorce process should be a priority, to make sure you don't end up homeless and bankrupt.

But getting the restraining order should be a starting point for those battles to be won. Apart from swamping you in paperwork and adding an extra layer of complication to the legal process, having a restraining order against your name has wide-reaching implications.

Firstly, you will experience extra checks at customs when you fly. You will not be allowed to own or be near any firearms or "other hazardous materials" (and if you work in security or trucking, that means goodbye to your job). You will live with being accused of violating the restraining order at any time - which, if your ex is spiteful enough to file an order in the first place, should be expected.

Finally, any employers who conduct a criminal background check will see the report with the flag against your name, but not the details of the case - and it's a standard procedure now to make this check on your criminal record before offering you a job. Employers will often not bother querying the facts around the case when they see your report, and you won't get a chance to explain that your vindictive ex filed a bogus restraining order abuse allegation in order to win custody of your kids.

Because of all of that, it's vitally important that you get the restraining order rescinded as soon as possible. Thousands of fathers are succeeding every week on this, and you can be one of them.