E.T.

I.

INTRODUCTION

E.T. and C.T. were married until March 2010, and have two children—S.T., born

in 1996, and T.T., born in 2002.1 In September 2010, E.T. filed a request for a domestic

violence prevention restraining order against C.T.2 In a responsive declaration, C.T.

denied E.T.'s allegations of recent abuse and stated that E.T. was permitting S.T. to live

in Australia without his permission. At a November 2010 hearing on E.T.'s request,

E.T.'s counsel acknowledged that S.T. had been living in Australia since June of 2010,

but claimed that C.T. had given his written consent for S.T. to do so. In response, C.T.

acknowledged that he had given his consent for S.T. to take a vacation in Australia, but

insisted that he had not given his consent for S.T. to "go to school or to live" there.3 The

trial court stated that its "perception of the credibility" of the parties in connection with

respect to E.T.'s request for a restraining order would be "substantially influenced by

whether or not [C.T.] gave his permission for S.T. to live in Australia." The court

continued the hearing on E.T.'s request for a restraining order, and directed E.T.…