Husband filing divorce petition from jail

My husband is a sex offender and violated his parole. while he was in jail I took my daughter and moved in with my parents in another state. I was served with divorce papers petitioning for divorce, custody of our 5 year old child and that i return to Florida ( his state of residence) until he is released from jail. (possiblely 10 years. I have no way of supporting myself in Florida and no place to stay if I returned. All my relatives live in Illinois. I have 20 days to respond to the petition. What can I do?

[AFFA]

I wish to inform you that you may reply to the petition. In this regard, you may seek permission to move out of the state of Florida to the state of Illinois and claim the best interests of the child as a ground for granting of permission for your move. You may argue that permission should be granted as financially it is not possible to live in the state of Florida and support the child. Your husband may be in jail for about 10 years. Your relatives are in Illinois and your family will support you and your child in Illinois. Further, child custody is granted based upon the best interests of child. In this regard, you may argue that best interests of child cannot be served with custody given to father as the father of the child is in jail. The court will consider all the facts and decide the matter.

AFF

It's pretty clear he's doing what he's doing out of some sick malice. Hire an attorney. While it's not even within the realm of possibility that he'll actually be awarded custody, he may win his case that disallows you to move the child certain distances away from him.

Hire an attorney to help you answer the petition. You don't want to go this alone.

Affa, "I wish to inform you that you may reply to the petition". That's some pretty astute and sage advice. And she probably thanks you for your permission. It would be nice if you stopped talking like a robot and started answering like a sane individual.