I just got off the phone with my attorney and he told me that in Hillsborough County where the case is filed, we have to go to mediation before any temporary motion for visitation or custody can be filed.
I do not understand why your attorney won't file for a temporary visitation order. The laws are very specific about it, in addition to the ones I referred to last night, there is also the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure governing mediation, specifically 12.741 (b) (1)
RULE 12.741 MEDIATION RULES
(a) Discovery. Unless stipulated by the parties or ordered by the court, the mediation process shall not suspend discovery.
(b) General Procedures.
(1) Interim or Emergency Relief. A party may apply to the court for interim or emergency relief at any time. Mediation shall continue while such a motion is pending absent a contrary order of the court, or a decision of the mediator to adjourn pending disposition of the motion. Time for completing mediation shall be tolled during any periods when mediation is interrupted pending resolution of such a motion.
(2) Sanctions for Failure to Appear. If a party fails to appear at a duly noticed mediation conference without good cause, the court upon motion shall impose sanctions, including an award of mediator and attorneys' fees and other costs, against the party failing to appear.
(3) Adjournments. The mediator may adjourn the mediation conference at any time and may set times for reconvening the adjourned conference. No further notification is required for parties present at the adjourned conference.
(4) Counsel. Counsel shall be permitted to communicate privately with their clients. The mediator shall at all times be in control of the mediation and the procedures to be followed in the mediation.
(5) Communication with Parties. The mediator may meet and consult privately with any party or parties or their counsel.
(6) Appointment of the Mediator.
(A) Within 10 days of the order of referral, the parties may agree upon a stipulation with the court designating:
(i) a certified mediator; or
(ii) a mediator who does not meet the certification requirements of these rules but who, in the opinion of the parties and upon review by the presiding judge, is otherwise qualified by training or experience to mediate all or some of the issues in the particular case.
(B) If the parties cannot agree upon a mediator within 10 days of the order of referral, the plaintiff or petitioner shall so notify the court within 10 days of the expiration of the period to agree on a mediator, and the court shall appoint a certified mediator selected by rotation or by such other procedures as may be adopted by administrative order of the chief judge in the circuit in which the action is pending.
(C) If a mediator agreed upon by the parties or appointed by a court cannot serve, a substitute mediator can be agreed upon or appointed in the same manner as the original mediator. A mediator shall not mediate a case assigned to another mediator without the agreement of the parties or approval of the court. A substitute mediator shall have the same qualifications as the original mediator.
These are state laws, which always trump local rules.
EDIT: Your attorney may have a reason for not wanting to file, if so, he really should be willing to fully explain the reason to you. Personally, this whole thing concerns me because of another case, in that case the father had been given temporary custody over a year ago. The CS order for him to pay was suspended but the court did not order the mother to pay any CS. The father hired an attorney who outright refused to file for a temporay CS order, telling his client that it would mess up the custody proceedings. After 6 months of the mother not giving any money willingly, the father told his attorney that he wanted to file for the CS pro-se, the attorney told him that if he did, he would drop him as a client. So, the father didn't file. The case went to court last week, the Judge was very unhappy and raked the father over the coals for NOT filing for CS. The father explained that he'd wanted to but his attorney refused. The end result was that the Judge threatened to sanction the attorney and ordered CS along with making the custody permanent.
So, sometimes not filing for your rights can come back to haunt you. Either way, your attorney should be willing to fully explain why it's in your best interests to not file.
