Florida Custody and Visitation legal questions and top-rated attorney answers

Florida Custody & Visitation questions and answers

• If someone used a protective order to get around a custody hearing can that be used back against them?

  Asked in Bunnell, FL | February 25, 2026

  My son's mother tried to move to FL in 2023 without my consent. I filed a custody hearing to resolve the issue, but she filed for a protective order to bypass the hearing and gain custody. I was not aware of the filing til a couple days before the hearing which I had to do via zoom since I did not live in FL and did not have an attorney due to short timing and the belief that since the allegations were false and thrown out in Maryland before multiple times the outcome would be the same, they however awarded her 7 years and full custody  In the months after Maryland was awarded the rightful jurisdiction, I was awarded primary custody after proving to the court I was a stable individual. Since then, she has tried to file multiple false claims in Maryland for protective orders and accusations, which have been dismissed. I am now looking to relocate and am fearful that this order will be used maliciously against me in other places, and I am trying to figure out the best way to proceed, especially since we have a child that she has visitation to. She has taken the child against the order and run off to FL before as well, last year, and held him for 6 months.

  Answered by 1 attorney