Hi y’all,
I’m representing myself in a family court case in Duval County, FL, and I could use some advice. Here’s the situation:
I was divorced 8 years ago, and we have a 50/50 custody arrangement. However, the mother of my child has been withholding visitation for the past 18 months and disregarding other parts of our agreement. I filed a motion for contempt in February 2023 due to these violations.
After some legal back-and-forth, the mother’s counsel has filed a motion to object to my contempt motion, raising several points that I believe are not accurate (e.g., claiming I agreed to therapy for our child, which is not true). I responded to her motion by drafting a reply that essentially objects to her objection, addressing and countering each of her points.
My question is: Is it standard procedure to file a response like this, where I object to her objection? I want to make sure this is a valid approach.
Additionally, I’m aware that the mother’s counsel has sent an email to someone at the court requesting a delay of any hearings until we go to mediation, including my motion for contempt. I’m concerned about this because I haven’t seen my daughter in almost two years, and she’s about to turn 16. Time is critical for me right now.
I plan to go to the courthouse tomorrow morning to address this issue and hopefully reply to the email that was sent to what I believe is the clerk’s office.
Any guidance on whether my approach to objecting to the objection is correct, and how I might handle the situation with the delay request, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance 