Legal Question in Family Law in Florida
My husband had an affair on me 6 months ago and filed for divorce in FL. I was the home maker. he worked. Through the affair off and on for 6 months would leave the household and the kids with me and stay overnight for days on end with his new affair. We have one child together who was born in FL. We tried to reconcile the marriage before divorcing and moved out of state together to NC and he obtained his NC driving license. 3 weeks later He took off in the middle of the night back to FL and opened the divorce case again. He has paid child support but not court ordered. He has had minimal 5 min phone calls with her 3 days a week if that. He has filed for mediation for custody and I don't know in details as to what but it is telephonic. He has an attorney and I don't not as I was the homemaker and cannot afford one at this time. He has already told me he would dispute child support since I opened a case through social services. My question is, what is an ideal visitation plan for a 2 yr old out of state and could he make me move back to the state of FL, as the divorce case was open there, to pursue custody even though we moved to NC together?
2 Answers from Attorneys
You probably should have retained counsel right away. You might have been able to dispute FL jurisdiction. That's now water under the bridge. This assumes you already filed a response with the FL Court. If not, hire an attorney right away.
While the Court cannot order your return to Florida, it can Order the child to return to reside in FL.
In Florida, with family law cases, depending on the parties' comparative financial resources, the Courts have the discretion to hold one party responsible for all, or part, of the other's attorney fees and costs. In other words, if the other party has significantly stronger financial resources, while you will still have to pay the retainer, do not assume that you will not be able to afford to retain an attorney. Reimbursement can be sought.
If you opt to proceed without the assistance of counsel, be aware that you will not be entitled to a �do over� if things go badly.
Each case is decided on a case by case basis. Looks like FL will handle jurisdiction over the case. Contact my office for free consultation 727-446-7659
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