You and your ex got divorced a year ago, and you share custody. They live with your ex most of the time, but they come to your house every other weekend. You also see them for visitations during the week, and you take summer trips together.
In other words, you are certainly involved in your children’s lives and you want it to stay that way. But now your ex is saying that they want to move out of California. You know this is going to make it impossible for the current custody situation to work, and you’re wondering if your ex is legally allowed to leave.
They need a good faith reason
In many cases, your ex needs to have a good-faith reason to move in order to be allowed to do so. Without a reason, the court may believe that they are simply doing it out of spite or to keep you from seeing the children. This would be a violation of your custody rights. Examples of good faith reasons include:
- Moving to be closer to extended family.
- Taking a job that has been offered.
- Going back to school and continuing your education.
- Moving for a better quality of life or a less expensive standard of living.
One thing to remember is that your ex needs to get the custody order modified in order to stop adhering to the schedule as it was initially set by the court. Simply moving without doing this is a violation of your rights and is not permitted. Make sure you are well aware of all of your legal options if you’re worried about losing time with your children.
