Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Domestic Violence

Once an injunction is entered against a person, he or she might wonder how to get the injunction dissolved. If the time for appeal or the filing of the appropriate motion or pleading to challenge the entry of the injunction has passed, a party may have the option of filing a motion to dissolve the injunction. In Sweet v. Tucker, 1D19-1964 (Fla. 1st DCA August 17, 2020), an appeal was taken regarding the denial of a motion to dissolve.

In 1998 when the accused was 17 years old, he was served with a petition for injunction against repeat violence. This resulted in a permanent injunction being entered against him. In 2017, the accused sought to dissolve the injunction on the basis that the court issuing the injunction lacked jurisdiction over him since the Florida Statutes require that minors be served in a specific manner. The record reflects that in 1998, the accused appeared at a hearing in the case, and that he filed multiple motions at that time in the case, and never raised the issue of his age being an issue that made service defective. The trial court denied the motion to dissolve the injunction and the accused appealed.

The appellate court upheld the trial court’s ruling. First, the appellate court noted the accused waited too long to challenge the issue of insufficient service. The court distinguished between a void and voidable judgment and held a judgement that is entered based on insufficient service is voidable. This type of challenge must be brought within 1 year of the date the judgment is entered. Second, the appellate court noted that the accused waived his challenge to jurisdiction when he appeared at a hearing in 1998 and filed motions at that time without complaining about the age issue. Last, the court held the challenge to the 1998 judgment was moot anyway since a 2002 order was entered superseding that judgment and the accused did not seek to set aside or otherwise challenge the 2002 order.

Dissolving a Florida domestic violence injunction requires specific analysis of certain factors. Schedule a consultation with a Miami domestic violence lawyer to go over the merits of your case.