All too often, clients who are faced with seeking, or defending against, a petition for domestic violence injunction begin thinking about every single fact, issue, or detail of their lives and the lives of the opposing party. Suddenly, parties want to dig up every piece of “dirt” they know about the other person, and they think that will help them win the day. Sometimes, the skeletons in the closet may be helpful, but not always. Parties often times don’t realize the narrow scope of what they are asking the court to do, and are unaware that the facts and issues they continue to focus on are more relevant in Family Circuit Court.
Family Court, unlike DV Court, is where their Divorce or Paternity actions lie. That court is the proper forum for discussing and arguing over issues such as parenting, support, and who gets the house on a permanent basis. DV court, as it is often referred to, on the other hand is a limited forum that seeks to resolve a specific set of issues. Florida Statute 741.30 governs this area of the law and states that, “Any person…who is either the victim of domestic violence as defined in s. 741.28 or has reasonable cause to believe he or she is in imminent danger of becoming the victim of any act of domestic violence, has standing in the circuit court to file a sworn petition for an injunction for protection against domestic violence.” §741.30(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (2015).
As such, the court in DV cases does not have the jurisdiction to make final decisions on Equitable Distribution, Alimony, or Parenting. There are times however, when the court as a practical matter will place temporary orders that are built into an injunction to help facilitate the effects of the injunction. For example, judges sometimes establish temporary timesharing orders in injunctions to help establish stability for the children. However, such issues are more appropriate for family court, and those limited orders in DV injunctions, related to family issues, are ultimately superseded by orders and final judgments in family court. So, knowing the limited nature of DV court, it is most cost effective to focus your efforts narrowly through any DV proceedings when talking with your lawyer. Witnesses, text messages, pictures, emails, etc. should all be relevant to the allegations of domestic violence. Whether you are seeking an injunction or defending against the issuance of an injunction, your focus should be spent on proving up, or rebutting, whether the DV act has occurred, or is imminent to occur. It is the petitioner’s burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence to prove this fact. Preponderance of the evidence is a lower burden of proof, so it is vital, especially if you are defending against the issuance of a DV injunction that you are fully prepared to rebut each specific allegation in the petition. A DV injunction can doom your custody chances in divorce or paternity court…so be sure to consult a family law professional in the event you face a petition filed against you.