More details to this question:
my husband and father of my child took off to Wisconsin overnight three years ago has not helped me financially with the child since has not seen the child and calls him maybe every two to three weeks whenever I ask him for financial help he tells me to do it on my own or he will come and take the child
1 ANSWER
Dear Ms. Chenal:
It depends what you want to do. Under Florida law you can apply to get "support unconnected with a dissolution of marriage," meaning child support without an accompanying divorce. You can also ask for retroactive support to cover the time since your husband left. Howoever, the retroactive support can only be awarded for up to 24 months, so each month you delay allows your spouse to get away from his responsibility. You can seek to do this through the Florida Department of Revenue, or through a private attorney.
Your second option is to file for divorce, unless there is a reason you are continuing the marriage. Even though your husband lives in Wisconsin, the Florida court should have jurisdiction over him since the last place you resided together as husband and wife was Florida.
As to him coming and getting your child, although you both have equal rights (in the law) to the child at this point,you can obtain an order from the court prohibiting your husband from removing the child from the state. However, you must have filed a divorce case to file for this protection.
Best of luck to you,
Cindy S. Vova
Law Offices of Cindy S. Vova, P.A.
Broward/Boca Raton
954-316-3496/962-2785
info@vovalaw.com
Answered on May 19th, 2020 at 6:29 AM