Your boyfriend’s probation officer just appeared and wants to inspect your home, your automobile and even your wallet as part of his checking up on your boyfriend to be sure he is in compliance. What can you do? Always check with an attorney for your actual situation but in general these are the guidelines: Say No As long as your boyfriend does not live with you, the probation officer does not have the right to search your house. He also cannot violate your boyfriend because you’ve refusal a search. If you don’t mind letting him take a quick look around, you can, but if you don’t want to, you can simply refuse and he cannot force the issue. Even if your boyfriend lives with you, if you each have your own cars, you have a right to say he cannot search yours. Now if it is a car that your boyfriend drives a lot, the probation officer might insist he has the right to search, but unless your attorney says you have to let him do so, feel free to say no. Your purse is yours regardless of whether you and your boyfriend live together. The probation officer should never even request to search it but if he does, tell him no. If he pushes the issue, politely remind him that you are not on probation with him and that your purse is your private property. Check out: Warrantless searches draw criticisms Exceptions: If you and your boyfriend live in the same house, the issue becomes more complicated. As part of his probation, your boyfriend most likely agreed to follow the rules that stated they could come search his house without notice and without a search warrant. If the house or lease is in your name only, you could probably still say no, but then the PO might order your boyfriend to move somewhere else. In this situation, call your boyfriend’s attorney to see if you must let the search happen. If so, there may be areas of the house that are exclusively for your use, and therefore not open to a search. You may be interested in: Probation Department Problems