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Few things are harder than watching a child you love spend time somewhere you believe is not safe. Whether the danger comes from the other parent, a relative, or someone else in the child’s life, the instinct is the same: get the child protected now, and sort out the details later. The law lets you do exactly that, but only if the request is made the right way and backed by the right evidence.
At Weldon Law Group, PLLC, we help parents, guardians, and relatives across Jacksonville, Duval County, and Northeast Florida ask the court to step in when a child’s safety is on the line. Our role is to move quickly, put the strongest possible case in front of the judge, and make sure the protection that comes out of it actually fits the child’s situation.
Attorney Ian Weldon leads a bilingual team that handles these matters with the urgency and discretion they call for. Whatever you are seeing, we can help you decide what the law can do about it.
Many parents come to us asking for a “child protection order,” and it helps to know from the start that this is a general term, not a single form you file. Florida law does not have one order by that name. Instead, it gives families several tools aimed at the same goal: shielding a child from someone who poses a risk. Choosing the right one is half the work, because filing under the wrong tool can cost time a child may not have.
It also helps to be clear about what this is not. If you are the one who needs protection from a partner or household member, that is an adult domestic violence injunction, where your children can be included, but the case centers on you. And if you are a parent who has been hit with a no-contact order because of criminal charges, that is a matter for our criminal defense team. The tools on this page are different: their focus is the child as the person being protected.
Because the right tool depends entirely on the facts, the first thing we do is figure out which one actually fits, and then build the case around it.
In practice, protecting a child through the courts usually comes down to two main paths. They can run separately or alongside each other, and knowing which one gives a child the fastest, strongest protection is where we start.
Florida allows a parent or legal guardian to file for an injunction on behalf of a minor when the child is a victim, or is in imminent danger of becoming a victim, of harm. Which injunction applies depends on who the danger comes from:
Courts take these cases seriously, but they also apply the law carefully before restricting a parent’s contact with a child, which means the evidence has to be specific and well presented. That is precisely the part we handle for you.
Florida also has a separate injunction, under Chapter 39, built specifically to prevent child abuse or an unlawful sexual offense against a child. A court can order the person responsible to stay away from the child, leave the family home, accept only supervised contact, or complete treatment, and it can order temporary support for the child.
These cases often arise when the Department of Children and Families (DCF) is already investigating, but a responsible adult acting to protect a child can be part of that process rather than a bystander to it. Where DCF is involved, we help you understand what is happening and protect both the child and your standing as a parent.
Judges have wide discretion to shape protection around a specific child, and we push for every safeguard the situation warrants rather than settling for a generic order. Depending on the facts, the court can:
The order is only ever as strong as the petition behind it. We make sure the court has the documentation and the clear picture it needs to put the right protections in place, not a watered-down version.
Child protection cases rarely arrive on their own. They tend to surface in the middle of something else, and recognizing when to act is often the hardest part. These orders commonly become necessary when:
Because these situations overlap with other cases, the pieces have to be coordinated. Protection sought during a divorce or custody fight becomes part of that larger case, so we align it with any pending custody matter and, where the danger also reaches an adult in the home, with a domestic violence injunction. When a safety concern arises after an order is already in place, it may call for a modification rather than a new filing.
Contact us for more information about our services.
Most of this work is practical: turning a frightening situation into an enforceable order and steadying the family while it happens. For our clients, that usually means:
Some situations are resolved with a single order, while others require going back to court as circumstances change. We handle it at each stage, with the child’s safety as the measure of whether the job is done.
A threat to a child often touches more than one area of law at once: a custody dispute, sometimes a domestic violence situation, sometimes a DCF investigation running in the background. Weldon Law Group, PLLC, handles these together, under one roof, so a child’s protection does not fall through the cracks between separate lawyers. Families who work with us can expect:
We stand with families throughout Jacksonville, Duval County, and the surrounding communities of Northeast Florida. Se habla Español
Question | Answer |
Can I get a protection order against my child’s other parent? | Yes. When your child’s other parent is the source of the danger, Florida lets a parent file for an injunction on the child’s behalf, and a court can limit, supervise, or halt that parent’s contact if the evidence supports it. Courts are careful before restricting a parent, so how the case is presented matters. |
Do I have to wait for DCF or the police to act first? | No. You do not have to wait for an agency to step in before seeking protection, and a responsible adult can act to protect a child through the courts. If DCF is already investigating, that process can run alongside your case rather than replace it. |
Is a child protection order the same as a restraining order for me? | No. A restraining order for an adult centers on your safety from a partner or household member, while these tools center on the child. The two often overlap, and where both an adult and a child are at risk, we may pursue both forms of protection at the same time. |
Will this permanently change custody? | Usually not on its own. Most protective measures are temporary and focused on immediate safety, while long-term custody is decided in the underlying family case. That said, what happens here can strongly influence that later decision, which is why the two need to work together. |
Can the order require supervised visitation instead of no contact at all? | Yes. Courts often prefer supervised visitation, allowing a child to keep a relationship with a parent while a neutral third party ensures safety. The right level of restriction depends on the specific risk, and we ask the court to match the order to it. |
What if I’m the parent being accused of putting my child at risk? | Then you are on the other side of one of these cases, and the response is different. An accusation is not a finding, and you have the right to be heard. If your situation involves criminal charges or a no-contact order, our criminal defense team handles that side. |
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