Florida

How to Get Protection

What kind of injunctions for protection against domestic and dating violence are available in Florida?

Florida courts can issue four types of injunctions for protection against domestic or dating violence. In each of these orders, the court can help protect you from gun violence or threats of gun violence by an intimate partner:

• Temporary injunction for protection against domestic violence1*
• Temporary injunction for protection against dating violence2
• Final judgment of injunction for protection against domestic violence3*
• Final judgement of injunction for protection against dating violence4

Courts can order whatever relief* they believe is necessary to protect you,5 including requiring the respondent* to get rid of his/her/their guns and prohibiting them from getting new ones. Florida law also automatically prohibits respondents subject to final judgements of injunction for protection against domestic violence from possessing* firearms6

How can you get an injunction for protection against domestic or dating violence?

Click here to see if you are eligible for an injunction for protection against domestic violence in Florida. Click here to see if you are eligible for an injunction for protection against dating violence in Florida.

You can find out more about how to get protection here or at WomensLaw.org.

You can find your local court here.

Court forms and Florida’s official guide to getting a domestic abuse protection order can be found here.

What do I do if I do not qualify for protection as a victim of domestic violence but I still need protection from someone? If you do not qualify for protection as a victim of domestic violence but need protection from someone (including a stranger, an acquaintance, or another person not covered under a domestic violence protection order), you might qualify for some other type of order. Contact VictimConnect at (855) 484-2846 or a lawyer for more information. You can find a lawyer using the Florida Bar’s website. If you cannot afford a lawyer, information about free- and low-cost legal help is available from FloridaLawHelp.

How can the court help protect you?

Florida law prohibits respondents* to final judgements of injunction for protection against domestic violence from possessing* firearms.7 Florida courts can also order whatever relief* they deem necessary to protect you – this means that if your case is not fully covered under the law cited above, a court can still protect you from gun violence.8 Some of the things a court can order include:

• Requiring the respondent to turn over their firearms to law enforcement;
• Prohibiting the respondent from purchasing or or possessing firearms while the order is in effect;
• Ordering law enforcement to retrieve the respondent’s firearms if the respondent does not turn them in when ordered to do so by the court;
• Requiring the respondent to appear before the court to self-report turning over their firearms as ordered;
• Directing law enforcement to follow up with the respondent to make sure the respondent turned over their guns as ordered;
• Scheduling a follow up compliance hearing * to ensure that the respondent has not accessed additional firearms since the order was issued;
• Ordering law enforcement to go to your home at scheduled times to check in on your safety;
• Ordering the respondent to stay away from you, your children, your family, and anyone else in immediate danger, based on the threats and/or actions of the respondent;
• Ordering the respondent not to hurt you or threaten to hurt you in the future;
• Anything else you need to be safe.

How will the court know what you need to protect you from the respondent’s firearms violence?

In your petition* and during any of the hearings* you participate in when you are seeking protection, you will have the opportunity to tell the court about the respondent’s* threats or acts of abuse, especially ones involving firearms. Every situation is different, and it is important to talk to a lawyer about your specific situation. You can find a lawyer using the Florida Bar’s website. If you cannot afford a lawyer, information about free- and low-cost legal help is available from FloridaLawHelp.

Your story will help the court decide what relief* to give you. Whether you are filling out court forms or speaking directly to the court, it is important to tell the court about the violence you experienced (working with your lawyer, if you have one), especially if the respondent used or threatened to use a firearm against you, a member of your family, any member of the community, or your pet. Among other things, this may include telling the court:

• About incidents of physical violence or threats of physical violence and include dates wherever you can;
• How the respondent used firearms to hurt or threaten you, your family, your pet(s), or anyone in the community;
• If you fear that the respondent may use firearms violence or threats of firearms violence in the future;
• If the respondent has threatened to harm him/her/themself. This may be a sign that the respondent intends to use a dangerous weapon like a firearm against you, themself, or other people;
• If you can, the type(s), number, and location of firearms the respondent has access to.