It can get complicated when a co-parent wants to move. For instance, perhaps you moved to your partner’s home state when the two of you got married. You had children together and then got divorced. You’re now interested in moving back to your home state.
But doing so could make your child custody scenario very complicated. If you and your ex are supposed to share custody or physical parenting time every other week, for example, how will you realistically do it when you live in two different states? If you move, it could be a violation of your ex’s right to see the children.
Why do you want to move?
This doesn’t mean that you can’t move, but the court wants to ensure that you’re not doing so simply to keep your ex from seeing the children. If you are intentionally trying to drive a wedge in their relationship or prevent your ex from being able to fulfill their child custody rights, then the court may refuse to modify the agreement and allow you to move with your children. The court has to look out for the rights of both parents.
To show that the move is justified, you can provide good faith reasons to move. Perhaps you want to move closer to extended family members who can help you care for the children. Maybe the place you want to move has a lower cost of living, which is necessary after getting divorced and going down to one income. Perhaps you’ve been accepted into college or offered a job, so you’re looking to further your career or your education.
The biggest thing to remember is not to move prior to getting the child custody modification. Make sure you know exactly what steps to take to do things in the correct order.
