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Legal Information: Florida

Restraining Orders

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Updated: 
October 6, 2023

How will the judge decide if I am “in immediate danger of becoming a victim of domestic violence?”

Even if you have not been physically battered, you can still qualify for an injunction if the judge believes you are in immediate danger of becoming a victim of domestic violence. When deciding this, the judge will look at the following factors:

  1. the history between you and the respondent, including threats, harassment, stalking, and physical abuse;
  2. if the respondent has attempted to harm you or family members or individuals closely associated with you;
  3. if the respondent has threatened to conceal, kidnap, or harm your child;
  4. if the respondent has intentionally injured or killed a family pet;
  5. if the respondent has used, or has threatened to use, any weapons such as guns or knives against you;
  6. if the respondent has physically restrained you from leaving the home or calling law enforcement;
  7. if the respondent has a criminal history involving violence or the threat of violence;
  8. if there was a prior order of protection issued against the respondent;
  9. if the respondent has destroyed personal property of yours, such as a telephone, clothing, or other items belonging to you;
  10. whether the respondent has engaged in a pattern of abusive, threatening, intimidating, or controlling behavior that reasonably causes you to believe that you or your child are in immediate (imminent) danger of becoming victims of any act of domestic violence; or
  11. whether the respondent has behaved in any other way that leads you to reasonably believe that you are in immediate danger of becoming a victim of domestic violence.1

1 Fla. Stat. § 741.30(6)(b)