New Hampshire’s ex parte motion form NHJB-2076-F is how you ask a judge for an emergency court order before the other party is notified or heard. You file it in the Circuit Court (Family Division) or Superior Court with a sworn affidavit and a proposed order, pay a $40 fee (or request a waiver), and the judge reviews it on paper, usually the same day. The bar is high: without concrete evidence of immediate, irreparable harm, the judge will deny the emergency relief and set a regular hearing instead.
When a Judge Will Grant Emergency Relief
Ex parte orders are extraordinary. The official instructions for NHJB-2076-F list the situations where this kind of relief may be justified: a good-faith belief that you or your children face immediate physical danger, a parent threatening to flee the state with the children, someone about to transfer or hide marital assets, or another party poised to take action that would cause irreparable injury to you, your children, or your property.1New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Instructions for Completing How to File an Ex Parte (Emergency) Motion (NHJB-2076-F)
The word doing the heavy lifting is “irreparable.” If a problem can be fixed later with money or a standard court order, a judge will deny the ex parte request and schedule a noticed hearing. Immediate physical violence, a child about to be removed from the court’s jurisdiction, assets about to disappear: those are the kinds of facts that justify acting without the other side.2New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Information on Ex Parte (Emergency) Motions
What to Gather Before You Start
Because the judge decides your motion entirely on paper, with no live testimony, your evidence has to carry the whole weight. Pull together police reports, medical records, photographs of injuries or damage, threatening texts or emails, and any prior court orders the other party has violated. Put them in chronological order so the judge can follow the timeline in one pass. A vague narrative about feeling unsafe, without concrete corroboration, is where most ex parte motions fail.
You will also need the case basics: the court name, both parties’ full names, and the docket number if one exists. If you are filing the ex parte motion with a brand-new divorce, parenting, or legal separation petition, you will not have a number yet; the clerk assigns one at filing.
Filling Out Form NHJB-2076-F
The form itself is short. The real work is in the attachments. NHJB-2076-F has three substantive sections plus a signature block.3New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Ex Parte (Emergency) Motion (NHJB-2076-F)
Section A: The Orders You Want
State exactly what you want the judge to order. Specificity wins. “Temporarily suspend the respondent’s unsupervised parenting time pending the follow-up hearing” is usable; “protect me and my kids” is not. If you need more than one form of relief, say a temporary custody change plus a freeze on a joint bank account, list each one separately. The judge rules on each request individually.
Section B: Reasons and Irreparable Harm
Describe why emergency relief is necessary and what immediate, irreparable injury will occur if the order waits for a regular hearing. List each reason on its own. Tie it to a specific incident, give a date, and point to the supporting document in your affidavit. Generalities will sink the motion. The judge needs to see harm that cannot be undone later.
Section C: Notification Efforts
The court wants to know what you did to tell the other party you were seeking this relief, and what came of it. If you called, texted, or emailed, say so and describe what happened. If giving notice would itself create the danger you are trying to prevent, for instance tipping off a parent who might flee with the children, explain that here. “No notice because of safety risk” is an acceptable answer when the affidavit backs it up.
Signature and Notarization
Sign and date the form in front of a notary public or justice of the peace. The form also includes a certificate of service block indicating whether and how you delivered a copy to the other party or their attorney.
The Two Required Attachments
Filing NHJB-2076-F without its attachments will get the motion rejected.1New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Instructions for Completing How to File an Ex Parte (Emergency) Motion (NHJB-2076-F) You need:
- A sworn affidavit laying out the facts in detail, chronologically, with your supporting documents attached as exhibits. The affidavit must be witnessed by a notary or justice of the peace; an unwitnessed affidavit is rejected.
- A proposed order drafted the way you want the judge to sign it, covering every item of relief listed in Section A. This gives the judge a working document to approve, modify, or decline.
Attach copies of your evidence (police reports, medical records, screenshots) to the affidavit itself. The judge reviews the file in chambers, so anything not on paper effectively does not exist for this decision.
Filing the Motion and Paying the Fee
You can file an ex parte motion at any time during court hours, either alongside a new petition or into a case that is pending or being reopened. New Hampshire courts use the Odyssey File and Serve system for electronic filing in Superior Court civil cases and certain Circuit Court case types, and self-represented parties can e-file in the Circuit Court.4New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Electronic Services If you file in person, bring extra copies so the clerk can stamp a set for your records.
The filing fee is $40 in Superior Court5New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Superior Court Fee Schedule Effective 07/01/2025 and $40 for an ex parte attachment in Circuit Court.6New Hampshire Judicial Branch. New Hampshire Circuit Court Filing Fees If the ex parte motion accompanies a new petition, you also owe the underlying petition’s fee.
If you cannot afford the fee, you can ask the court to reduce or eliminate it. Superior Court uses a Motion for Waiver of Filing Fee; Circuit Court Family Division uses a Motion to Reduce or Eliminate Filing Fees and/or Costs, accompanied by a Financial Affidavit.7New Hampshire Judicial Branch. How to Request to Pay a Lower Fee or File for Free Submit the waiver with the motion; the clerk will not process the motion until the fee is paid or the waiver is on file.
If Your Emergency Involves Domestic Violence or Stalking
NHJB-2076-F is not the right form for those situations. Domestic violence uses petition NHJB-2050-DF under RSA 173-B, and stalking uses petition NHJB-2051-D under RSA 633:3-a.8New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Stalking Petition (NHJB-2051-D) Those petitions have their own procedures, usually waive filing fees, and run on their own hearing timelines.9New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Orders of Protection and Restraining Orders
What Happens After You File
The motion goes to a judge for review as soon as possible after filing. There is no guaranteed turnaround in the rules, but courts generally act on same-day filings the same day.1New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Instructions for Completing How to File an Ex Parte (Emergency) Motion (NHJB-2076-F)
If the judge grants the motion, you receive a temporary order and the court schedules a follow-up hearing before you leave the courthouse. That hearing takes place within 30 days. The other party can request in writing that it be moved up to within five days.
If the judge denies the emergency relief, the court still schedules a hearing with notice to both parties. Your underlying concerns get addressed; they just move on a regular timeline.
Serving the Other Party
Once the judge signs the order, you are responsible for getting copies of the motion and order to the other party. Bring the documents to the sheriff of the county where the other party lives and ask the sheriff to serve them in person. Mail is not enough. The sheriff charges a service fee you pay at the time of service. Do not delay. The temporary order’s enforceability depends on proper notice, and the clock on the follow-up hearing runs regardless.
Preparing for the Follow-Up Hearing
The temporary order lasts only until that follow-up hearing, where both sides present evidence and testimony. The judge will then vacate the order, modify it, or make it permanent. The case shifts from a one-sided paper proceeding into a standard contested matter, with full due process for both sides. If you relied on a thin affidavit to get the emergency order, this is where the weakness surfaces, so prepare for the follow-up hearing as seriously as you prepared the motion.2New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Information on Ex Parte (Emergency) Motions
Perjury Exposure
Every fact in your affidavit is sworn under oath. A knowingly false material statement in an official court proceeding is perjury under RSA 641:1, a class B felony.10New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Revised Statutes Section 641:1 – Perjury A “material” statement is one capable of affecting the outcome. In an ex parte motion, where the judge is relying on your word alone, virtually every factual claim in the affidavit meets that definition. Beyond the criminal exposure, a judge who finds exaggerated or fabricated facts will deny the motion and will remember it for the rest of the case.