Legal Question in Family Law in Florida
Essentially, my daughter's estranged spouse lied to DCF about her being on drugs to try to use DCF to get custody of their daughter without using an attorney, he is a gambler and broke and lives with his mom; he won't let her have custody of her own daughter without threats, psychological abuse, etc. The question is: isn't that illegal? What can she do to stop him from lying to DCF, threatening/insulting/basically bullying/scaring her, and withholding custody of their daughter?
Details: My daughter has been trying to get out of a marriage with an abusive spouse for about a year. She is frightened/not behaving like a logical, strong, independent adult. She is so frightened of him that I am surprised she got this far. He verbally bullies/threatens and psychologically abused her for years/still tries. It is mainly verbal/psychological, but when it had become violent, about once or twice a year for about the past 8 years, she never called the police/stopped telling me about it when I told her i would call 911 if I found out he hit her - so she wouldn't tell me until about a month after each incident. She finally effectively forced him to leave, after he smashed her into a wall in front of their daughter. He moved out, they agreed to make "fair" visitation, she thought it best not to separate the child from the dad just because she didn't love him anymore. Problem; he took the daughter for a visit a few months ago and won't give her back unless my daughter lets him move back in, too. She has tried for six months to get her daughter back, without money for an attorney, she is an RN, but has been on medical leave from a car accident, but he lies/manipulates/twists the truth, etc., so, essentially, she can't even see her own daughter unless he is with her, and then he starts telling her how she is an unfit mother for abandoning her daughter, but won't let the daughter "come home" unless he comes with her. It is so sick. I found out he is living in his parents' home with 4 adults and 3 kids in a 2 bedroom house, and my granddaughter told me that she sleeps with him, I called DCF, told them exactly that, did not allegate sexual abuse but asked for an investigation, because a 38 year old man that is as psychologically maladjusted as he is should not be sleeping with a 7 year old little girl. My granddaughter seems afraid of him, ran to hide from him in the closet -fearfully, not playfully - the last time she was here and he came to pick her up. He called DCF and allegated that my daughter abandoned her daughter and is abusing drugs. DCF contacted me, told me of the allegation that she uses drugs, I told them I didn't understand why she had let him take the child from her, he told me she was an unfit mom who did not want her daughter, too, but now I understood what was happening, and no, I did not suspect she was on drugs. I suspect she is of an abused mentality and needs help dealing with his scare tactics. My daughter took a drug test today, says the accusation is a lie, that she will pass the test. How can she get her daughter back and stop his psychological abuse? Can she ask that he be prosecuted for the false allegation?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Yes, he can be reported for lying to DCF, but how do you prove he is lying? Even if she passes the drug test, it doesn't mean she wasn't using drugs. It only means the drugs didn't show up. Even if he is shown to be lying, it's unlikely anything will happen to him.
Although you've listed a lot of information in your post, you haven't described the status of a divorce case, which is what your daughter ought to be doing. She needs to speak with a family law attorney right away, or she'll probably keep being on the losing side of things.
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