If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For confidential help any hour, the Florida Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-500-1119 and the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233.
Florida provides civil protection from violence through injunctions — court orders most people call restraining orders — and it provides more than one kind. Which injunction applies depends on the relationship between the parties and the conduct involved, and choosing the wrong type is among the most common reasons petitions fail. This page maps the five types, how they work, and what protection they actually deliver. The Law Office of John Vernon Moore, P.A. brings over 89 years of combined experience to injunction cases across Brevard County — for petitioners who need protection and respondents facing allegations.
The Five Types of Protective Injunctions in Florida
1. Domestic violence injunction (§ 741.30). For violence — or reasonable fear of imminent violence — between family or household members: spouses, ex-spouses, relatives by blood or marriage, people who live or lived together as a family, and parents of a child in common. The broadest and most powerful injunction, with remedies reaching the home, children, and support.
2. Repeat violence injunction (§ 784.046). For two incidents of violence or stalking (one within the last 6 months) by someone who does not fit a domestic relationship — a neighbor, coworker, or acquaintance. See our repeat violence page.
3. Dating violence injunction (§ 784.046). For violence within a significant dating relationship existing within the past 6 months. Covers the serious relationship that never became cohabitation. Details on our dating violence page.
4. Sexual violence injunction (§ 784.046). For sexual battery and related offenses, available even for a single incident, with special provisions when the respondent was imprisoned. See sexual violence injunctions.
5. Stalking injunction (§ 784.0485). For a course of conduct — following, harassing, cyberstalking — causing substantial emotional distress. No violence required. Our stalking injunction page covers it.
What a Domestic Violence Injunction Can Do
A final DV injunction is a genuinely powerful order. Beyond prohibiting contact and violence, the court can exclude the respondent from a shared home regardless of whose name is on the deed; establish a temporary parenting plan and timesharing, or suspend the respondent’s contact with children; award temporary child support and spousal support; order the respondent into a batterers’ intervention program; bar the respondent from the petitioner’s home, work, school, and specified places; and require surrender of firearms and ammunition — a consequence with federal dimensions covered on our firearms and injunctions page. Violating any provision is a first-degree misdemeanor (felony on the third violation or with aggravating conduct), and enforcement is immediate through arrest — see violations.
How the Process Moves: Petition to Final Hearing
Injunctions move faster than any other civil case in Florida. The petitioner files a sworn petition with the Clerk of Court — in Brevard County, at the Moore Justice Center in Viera, the Titusville courthouse, or the Melbourne courthouse — with no filing fee for protective injunctions. A judge reviews it the same day, ex parte: if the petition alleges an immediate and present danger, the court issues a temporary injunction effective upon service, lasting up to 15 days, and sets a final hearing within that window. At the final hearing both sides present evidence and the judge decides whether to enter a final injunction — for a set term or indefinitely. The step-by-step process is on our how to get an injunction page, and what the hearing itself looks like is on the injunction hearing.
Why Both Sides Should Take These Cases Seriously
For petitioners, the stakes are safety — and the difference between a granted and denied petition is usually preparation: the right injunction type, specific incidents with dates, and admissible evidence rather than adjectives. For respondents, a final injunction is far more than an order to stay away: it can remove you from your home, restrict your children, take your firearms, appear in background checks, and shadow custody litigation for years — see defending against an injunction and domestic violence and custody. Injunction dockets move in days, not months; whichever side you are on, the time to get counsel is now. With over 89 years of combined experience, our team handles both petitions and defenses with the seriousness these cases deserve.
How fast can I get protection?
Same day. If your sworn petition shows immediate and present danger, the court can issue a temporary injunction that day, effective as soon as law enforcement serves the respondent — who must then stay away pending the final hearing within about 15 days.
Does an injunction cost anything to file?
No. Florida law prohibits filing fees and service charges for protective injunctions. Cost is never a reason to remain unprotected.
Which injunction do I need if we dated but never lived together?
Usually a dating violence injunction, if the relationship was significant and within the last 6 months — or a stalking injunction if the conduct is harassment and following rather than violence. Type selection matters; a petition filed under the wrong statute can be denied regardless of the facts.
Can an injunction give me custody and support?
A domestic violence injunction can include a temporary parenting plan, timesharing restrictions, and temporary child and spousal support — bridging protection until a family court case addresses matters long-term. Divorce-adjacent strategy is covered on our domestic violence and divorce page.
Protection — or Defense — Without Delay
Injunction cases are won in days, on preparation. The Law Office of John Vernon Moore, P.A. represents petitioners and respondents throughout Melbourne, Palm Bay, Viera, and Titusville. Call (321) 529-7777 or schedule a consultation — and if you are in danger right now, call 911 first.