Family Law Assignment

Jane A. Doe

April 1, 2019

Page Two

April 1, 2019

Jane A. Doe

555 123rd Street

Ocala, Florida 34470

Re: John Doe

Dear Ms. Doe:

It was a pleasure meeting with you on February 22, 2018.

It was my understanding from our meeting that you married John Doe on October 11, 2001. The two of you have three children, to wit, Mary Doe, born November 11, 2001; John Doe Jr., born March 12, 2003 and Micheal Doe, born August 25, 2005. You are renting the home at 555 123rd Street, Ocala, Florida. You were served with a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage on January 3, 2013. When you came to see me, you had not yet been served with the Petition for Injunction for Protection Against Domestic Violence, but I found the paperwork on-line while you were at my office. The judge did not issue a temporary injunction based on the allegations made by Mr. Doe in the Petition, but the judge instead scheduled a hearing for November 6, 2012 at 9:00 a.m.

With respect to the Injunction, it is a good sign that Judge Pope did not issue a temporary injunction based on the allegations contained in the Petition because that means that Judge Pope did not think that Mr. Doe alleged sufficient facts to support the issuance of an injunction. To obtain an Injunction for Protection against Domestic Violence, the standard is relatively low in that all that has to be shown by the petitioner is that he either has been the victim of domestic violence as it is defined in the statute, or has a reasonable cause to believe that he is in imminent danger of becoming the victim of domestic violence. Mr. Doe has not alleged any acts of violence in his Petition. It appears from the allegations that the two of you have had heated arguments, but there does not seem to have been any violence. Since Mr. Doe did not move out of the marital home between the time he filed the petition and the hearing, I think that should support your contention that he does not have an imminent fear that violence may occur. If Judge Pope does issue an injunction on a permanent basis or for a specific time period because he believes that the volatile relationship could turn violent, he will also order a time sharing schedule and child support at that hearing. If the injunction is issued, that does not mean that you will not get to see your children. If he does not issue the injunction, then we will ask for a hearing for temporary relief in the dissolution of marriage case discussed below.

With respect to the dissolution of marriage action, you have twenty days from the date you were served, January 3, 2013, to file an answer. We will also need to file a Counter-petition in your case since you want to remove the children from the jurisdiction. The filing fee for a counter-petition is $295.00. I do not want to let Mr. Doe know that you have an attorney prior to the injunction hearing, but after the injunction hearing I will go ahead and file a Notice of Appearance in the dissolution of marriage action so that if they try to schedule any hearings we will be notified and if they serve any other papers they will come to me. They have also filed a Petition for Injunction to Prevent Removal of the Children from the Marital Home. I have never seen such a motion. Most of the time, the motion is to prevent removal from the jurisdiction. I do not believe that Mr. Doe has any right to ask that the children not be removed from the marital home if you are removed from the marital home pursuant to an injunction or if you choose to leave because that would essentially mean that you could not see them. The proper motion would be to request temporary relief and establish a time sharing so that you both could see the children. I do not imagine that Judge Pope would grant their motion to not allow the children be removed from the marital home.

You stated that you want to move to Volusia County with the children and start your life over. As we discussed, since Mr. Doe has filed the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, you cannot remove the children from the jurisdiction of the Court without permission from the Court pursuant to the Standing Family Law Order. The only way that you will be allowed to remove the children from the jurisdiction from the Court is if the Court enters an order saying you can do so. As we discussed, it is possible that the court would award you majority time sharing and allow you to take the children to Volusia County with Mr. Doe only having visitation with the children every other weekend. However, you are the party fighting the up-hill battle requesting that the court allow you to remove the children from the county where they have always lived. As of the time you came to see me, you did not have a job in Volusia County or a place to live. I cannot see the court awarding you majority time sharing without some sort of stability and reason for removing them from the jurisdiction. As we discussed, the Court makes a determination of time sharing based on the best interest of the children, so you will have to show the court why it is in the children’s best interest to be removed from this jurisdiction to Flagler County with you, rather than staying where they are familiar and have other family. It is very important that you establish stability before requesting this from the Court.

Your mother paid a $2,000.00 retainer the day after our meeting. We discussed that my hourly rate is $300.00 per hour. All work that I do, all work that is done by my assistant, and all costs incurred by our firm are billed against your retainer. This retainer will be used up quickly because you also have the injunction hearing that I need to attend with you. You should be prepared to pay an additional retainer once this retainer is used.

Sincerely,

Law Office of