Both parents must work together to determine what is best for their child. If one parent chooses to move to another region and take the child with, the other parent must agree. In case of you having a child custody order in place, it will be necessary to return to court with the agreement to have it modified, and the new living situation added. As long as the new arrangement is according to your child’s best interests, the judge will have no issues in approving it. However, if the move is not to the benefit of the child, the relocation will be denied. If you haven’t got a custody order in place, but both parents are in favor of the move, you should go to court to solidify the arrangement and have it legalized in the custody order. This protects your right to move your child to another state, but the other parent along the line can dispute it if you haven’t obtained a court order in your favor.
How To Determine Whether The Relocation Is In Your Child’s Best Interest
A judge generally approves or denies the relocation according to the wellbeing of the child and his interests. If the child is staying with your post-divorce and will be relocating with you, it usually constitutes as being in the child’s best interests. But it’s not a guarantee that the motion will be approved. It may be worthwhile to hire a Divorce Attorney in Nassau County to represent your case. The other parent has the opportunity to provide evidence to prove that the relocation is not what is best for your child.
The judge will review the following factors:
- Your reasons or intent behind the move.
- In which way, the move will benefit your child’s life.
- The likelihood of setting up a realistic visitation schedule and custody arrangement to preserve your child’s relationship with the other parent.
- Your intent and ability to comply with the visitation and custody order once you’ve moved.
- The reasons for or intent of the other parent’s refusal of the move.
General Issues Linked To The Relocation Of A Child
Much of the dispute around relocating a child out of state, is the logistics. Some of the enquiries that need answering are:
- How will ongoing communication be maintained between the child and the other parent?
- How and when will visitations be scheduled for the other parent to spend time with the child?
- How visitations will be rotated for special days such as holidays and birthdays.
- Travel arrangements for the child between both homes.
- Who will be accompanying the child when they travel?
- Who will be paying for the travel fees?
Moving your child out of state will involve a lot of long-distance travel, and you need to consider that you’ll have to drive or child in between homes or paying for the plane tickets. It can be a substantial financial burden.
Opposing The Move
If you are the non-custodial parent who does not give your consent to the move, it is necessary to consult with an experienced child custody lawyer to assist you accordingly.
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