Life can change in the blink of an eye. You can suddenly lose your job, suffer the loss of a loved one, meet the love of your life, your secure a promotion. Each of these can alter the course of your life. As stressful as that can be, these events, whether happening to you or your child’s other parent, may have an affect on your relationship with your child. This may be especially true when it comes to parental relocation.
If you are a noncustodial parent, then a relocation may mean that you struggle to maintain contact with your child. Sure, phone and virtual visitation may be a possibility, but it isn’t the same. After all, it limits your ability to maintain and build your bond with your child. You might not be able to be involved with his or her schooling and attend extra-curricular activities, and you might have to expend a lot of your resources to maximize your contact with your child.
As a custodial parent, a relocation may be appropriate for a variety of reasons. It might allow you to secure better employment, thereby providing better financial security for you and your child. It might also allow your child to develop bonds to extended family members, such as grandparents. Moving to a better school district can provide a child with better educational opportunities.
So, when it comes to parental relocation, there’s a lot at stake for the parents and the child. This is why, when the parents can’t agree, the court will consider a number of factors when determining whether a relocation is in a child’s best interest. Among those factors are the child’s relationship with each parent; the child’s ties to the community; the reasons in support of the move; the reasons the objecting parent opposes the move; the education, emotional, and financial impact of the move on the family; and the child’s relationship with the non-custodial parent. The court will also take a close look at how the parties plan on ensuring that visitation between the child and his or her non-custodial parent can occur with significant quantity and quality.
This leaves a lot of room for argument. Therefore, if you find yourself facing a child custody disagreement or a dispute pertaining to parental relocation, then you and your child might benefit from obtaining assistance in crafting compelling legal arguments to support your position.