Reply to Marriage at 17, solely for emancipation purposes. Crazy idea?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

OP, why are you so reluctant to seek actual legal help for this girl?  Stop making assumptions and ask actual legal professionals.  Seek out a lawyer and a GAL if you really want to help her.[/quote]

The potential legal costs might seem overwhelming, OP, in terms of "fighting" this to a conclusion, but If you and other family members can scrape together a few hundred dollars, that would pay for an attorney for the child to listen to the case/facts for an hour and give you some accurate basic advice about options.

I'm concerned that you seem to be conflating 2 different legal tactics in this situation --1) emergency custody order change and 2) temporary restraining order.  It may indeed be the case that an emergency custody order change would take some time to get on the court calendar. BUT, generally speaking, temporary restraining orders are heard ex parte and thus are held very quickly. "Ex Parte" means without notice to the defendant (the father in this case). The standard in Florida for a domestic violence restraining order is disjunctive (meaning only 1 of the two following situations must be proved) -- 1) domestic violence has already happened OR 2) there is an imminent danger of domestic violence. Consult with a FL attorney, but it may well be that for the ex parte temporary restraining order to be approved, the court may look for imminent danger.  BUT, if the court turns down the temporary restraining order due to lack of imminence, a hearing is still set and must occur within 15 days to hear a permanent restraining order. There is NO requirement for imminence for a permanent restraining order. The father will have notice and the opportunity to argue against a permanent restraining order. A person can fail to get a temporary restraining order but still get a permanent one. This is because since the temporary restraining order hearing is ex parte, the court may require a higher burden of proof so as not to unfairly prejudice the interests of the defendant who doesn't even have notice of the proceeding.

It's very complicated the different standards and rules that apply to situations which involve CPS versus child custody versus restraining orders (both temporary and permanent). I'm not a Florida attorney, and you have not provided all the facts, so it's unclear to me how FL CPS could have "documented injuries" but decided not to take action. This could be because they didn't have proof that the father caused the injuries OR it could be that the remedy available to CPS was taking the child away from the father, which would normally require a very serious behaviors by the father.

This is why you need a lawyer that has an ethical obligation only to the child to walk you/her through the options.   It may be that an attorney can also offer some advice on how to stall her way through the next couple of months even if the likelihood of getting a custody change or restraining order was low. That attorney may also offer some more clear guidelines about what the real repercussions to the minor child and  mother would be if they avoided visitation, or how best/most effectively to avoid custody.

Finally, I think marriage is a pretty permanent solution to a temporary problem. Are there any other family members in other parts of the country to whom the child could flee.  If she can live with another family member and enroll in school, I think there is a very low probability that the father could get through the court system fast enough to get the child returned. Best case scenario would be that the child could return to the home school once she turns 18.  Of course an attorney should advise. If she's already "run away" once, then I would prefer an out of state family member to flee to. FWIW, running away to a friend or family should not put them in danger of a kidnapping charge.

[/quote]

I appreciate your response. I’ve been trying to talk her into contacting a legal aid clinic in her area. We have absolutely no money for an attorney. It’s literally the difference between paying the rent/mortgage or paying for an attorney. Both of us have been helping out a disabled family member for several months, and it is impossible. She ran away yesterday, and has no income. She should qualify for the services offered by the legal aid clinic. She needs to look further into the possibility of an emergency custody hearing or a protective order. I do understand they’re 2 different things. She’s missing, so we’re kind of stuck until she resurfaces. [/quote]

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