Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Domestic Violence

Who has standing to request a domestic violence injunction in Florida? According to the Florida Statutes, this type of injunction may be sought by “family or household members”, which are defined as “spouses, former spouses, persons related by blood or marriage, persons who are presently residing together as if a family or who have resided together in the past as if a family, and persons who are parents of a child in common regardless of whether they have been married. With the exception of persons who have a child in common, the family or household members must be currently residing or have in the past resided together in the same single dwelling unit.” See Chp. 741, Fla. Stat. Standing was an issue in the case Alcon v. Collins, 1D20-2265 (Fla. 1st DCA March 2, 2022).

The parties to this case maintained an online relationship. The accused lived in California while the alleged victim lived in Florida. The alleged victim went to visit the accused in California and testified she did not intend to move to California. The accused challenged the alleged victim’s standing to file a domestic violence petition against him since she was not a family or household member as defined by the statutes. The trial court ignored this argument and entered an injunction against the accused. He appealed.

The appellate court reversed, agreeing with the accused that there was no standing. The court held “There is no dispute that [the accused] and [the alleged victim] have not been married, are not related by blood or marriage, and have no children together. [. . .] The test for where one resides is rooted in history. It is the place where she has set up her ‘household goods and made the chief seat of [her] affairs and interests,’ from which she ‘has no intention of departing,’ and when she does depart from that place, she considers herself ‘to be away from home.’ Wade v. Wade, 113 So. 374, 375 (Fla. 1927) (quoting Roman law’s definition of ‘domicile’). Put simply, legal residence is ‘the concurrence of both fact and intention.’ Bloomfield v. City of St. Petersburg Beach, 82 So. 2d 364, 368 (Fla. 1955). This is to say, for someone to change residence, she must have a ‘good faith intention to move’ and engage in ‘positive overt acts’ showing ‘an actual removal.’ Id. In the end, the person must be living ‘at a particular place,’ and there must be ‘positive or presumptive proof of an intention to remain there for an unlimited time.’ Wade, 113 So. at 375.”

The court concluded “Nowhere in the record evidence is there even a hint of permanence in [the alleged victim’s] planned stay with [the accused], which means there was no evidentiary basis for concluding that the two ever resided together in California. Without this, [the alleged victim] had no standing to seek the domestic violence injunction. We agree with the Second District’s view that for standing, ‘something more than a romantic relationship with overnight visits is required,’ especially when the two ‘maintained separate residences throughout their relationship.’ Slovenski v. Wright, 849 So. 2d 349, 350 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003).”

Schedule a consultation with a Miami family law attorney to understand how the law may apply to your case.