Getting an injunction and why
The Florida Office of State Courts Administrator reports that more petitions for domestic violence injunctions are filed than anyl other type of family law case, including divorces, child support cases, adoptions, even cases charging juveniles with crimes.
That's an astonishing statistic. Now, while I recognize that many people use this type of action to get their spouse kicked out of the house and get custody of the kids, I'm sure the great majority of cases are legitimate and true. That is to say, there are a lot of women (and sometimes men) and children being abused in this state.
Getting an injunction against someone in Florida is pretty easy (some would argue too easy). Just go to the courthouse and ask where you file for injuctions, and they'll take it from there. You'll have to write out and swear to how you were threatened or injured. You'll need to describe at least two threats or injuries if the person you are trying to get the injunction against is not a family member, member of the household, a relative by blood or marriage, or someone you were romantically involved with. There should be no fee to file for an injunction, but you may want to check with your county clerk to be sure.
Once you've completed your affidavit stating what happened, your affidavit will be taken to a judge, usually right away. The judge will then decide whether to grant you a temporary injunction. If your temporary injunction is granted, you'll be given a hearing about 15 days later to prove your case. If your injunction is denied, you may still be given a hearing, even though you won't have temporary protection.
If you are given a hearing, the person you are filing against will be served with the paperwork about the hearing date and time. If the temporary injunction was granted, the person will also be told to stay away from you, leave the house, not contact you, or whatever else the judge orders.
If you don't show up at the hearing, the temporary injunction will be dissolved.
If you do show up, you will have to make your case (and the other person will make theirs), and the judge will decide if the injunction should continue and for how long. Injunctions usually last one year, but the length is up to the judge. Some even last forever.
There is no jury in injunction court, and it's a lot like the People's Court. Lawyers, however, are permitted, and the best way to lose is to show up without a lawyer when the other side shows up with a lawyer. Strongly consider hiring a lawyer to help you with your hearing. Many times, injunction judges will order temporary custody and child support at the hearing, so be ready to ask.
posted by Brent @ 1:38 PM
15 comments
15 Comments:
what happen when the person that got the injunction has a third party contact you.Is this breaking the injunction..
if someone uses false statements to get an injunction can they be fined
If one is using a third party to communicate, most judges would consider that a violation.
If someone lies to a judge while under oath, they are subject to both contempt of court and perjury charges, though I don't recall anyone actually ever being charged.
can someone use a recorded phone conversation as evidence to get an injunction, even though its illegal to record a phone call without permission?
No. The same law that makes it a felony to record a conversation (unless the other person knows they are being recorded), makes recorded phone calls inadmissable in injunction hearings.
Voicemails, though, are a different story. Voicemails are admissable and can be played to the judge. The reason you can play voicemails is that the person leaving the voicemail obviously knows they are being recorded.
Also, if someone is really "going off" and threatening you on the phone, you can always say, "I'm recording this now." The person then knows they are being recorded, and, if they are stupid enough or crazy enough to continue threatening you, the recording can be played to the judge.
can witnesses be called in an injunction hearing?
Yes.
I have a huge problem and I really dont know what to do. My son's father was abusive and decided after we ended our relationship to snatch our son up from his mothers house. This was eight months ago. I have been to court every month since then modifying the injunction filing affidavits for violations, so on and so forth. This "man" has not done one thing the cuort has ordered him to do and yet this past friday the judge went back on what he had put in place (supervised visitation at a dcf center) and ordered me (the one who has absolutely abided by the rules) to allow our three year old son to go out of town every other weekend to be with his father. Now after four years of his father telling me that if i ever did anything to piss him off he would take of with our child and I would never see him again. (which is why I asked in the first place to have supervised visitation) Now I dont have any counsel helping me out and I got creamed by our "justice" system....HELP!!!
More often than any others, I say these words: lawyers are expensive, but there is nothing more expensive than NOT having a lawyer.
I hope not having a lawyer hasn't cost you your son.
Two things:
1) The harsh truth. Don't blame the system. You're the one who had a child with this scumbag.
2) The better truth. Try not to be too upset, and certainly don't panic. If this piece of garbage does abscond with your son, he will be found. It's almost unheard of in these days of Amber alerts and high tech tracking systems that children actually disappear with the other parent for long. If the father does take off with your son, he will soon be found, and the days of unsupervised visitation (or visitation at all) will be over for him. Some good may come from this judge's decision. Also, maybe you're wrong; maybe God will somehow work in this guy's heart to make him a decent father. I've seen miracles like this happen before. Maybe the judge has given him the chance he needs, or maybe the judge has given him the rope he needs to hang himself with.
Either way, I'll pray for you and your son. Stay calm. Don't be surprised if this turns out all right.
Can I specifically request the Judge for my husband to co-sign an apartment lease in the place of alimony?
Technically, the judge doesn't have the authority to do that, but it never hurts to ask. Sometimes judges do things that they don't have the authority to do.
My wife falsely accused me of "pushing her to the floor" to obtain a DVI against me. I have a copy of a Sheriff's report (I called them to report the incident) stating that she claimed "there was no physical contact between us" to cover herself from grabbing my arm in the dispute.
When I went before the judge, he read the report but made the injunction permanent for one full year.
If that is not perjury I don't know what is! What legal responses do I now have available?
Didn't have a lawyer, did you?
What do I do if I was living with an abusive boyrfriend whom I had a domestic violence charge on that got dropped cause he told me that he would kill me if I didnt sign the affidavit. I finally got the courage to leave him, he than stalked me so I just got a temporary injunction on him after he was served he than went to courthouse and filed one on me that got approved. What happens now?
So, at this point, you'll have injunctions against each other. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's quite common.
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