Injunctions for Protection from Domestic, Repeat, and Dating Violence are court orders which prohibit a person (called a Respondent) from having contact with another person (called a Petitioner) because of claims of violence or threats of violence. Once a judge has 
signed either a temporary or permanent injunction for protection from violence, the Respondent is under a court order prohibiting that person from having contact with the Petitioner. There are always other terms and conditions of these types of injunctions.
Pursuant to Florida law, an injunction for domestic, repeat or dating violence is modifiable at either time. Either party can file a motion to modify an injunction, by which they requesting that the terms of the injunction change. Either party can also file a motion to dissolve an injunction, which means that the injunction is no longer in effect. Depending on the facts of a particular case, the injunction may be modified or dissolved if one of the parties can show good cause. Some judges require that there be a change in the circumstances to warrant a modification of an injunction, whereas other judges have ruled that no such change is necessary. In either event, before a judge will modify or dissolve an injunction, the party seeking the modification has the burden to prove that good cause exists for the change.
It is important that both parties understand that only a judge can modify or dissolve an injunction. Any modifications to an injunction that are not approved by court order have no legal effect. This comes into play often with domestic violence injunctions where the parties reconcile after the injunction is entered. In this situation, even though the parties have agreed to reconcile, without a court order modifying or dissolving the injunction, the person subject to an injunction can be arrested and charged with a crime because the court order prohibiting contact between the parties is still in effect.
If you need legal counsel regarding an injunction please contact Collins, Maynard and Associates for a free consultation.
