We have our first appellate case now interpreting the Alabama Parent Child Relationship Protection Act, and it permits the relocation to occur. In Clements v. Clements, Case No. 2030768 (Ala. Civ. App. February 11, 2005), the Appeals Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court in Autauga County. The trial court’s opinion hadn’t expressly said so, but the Appeals Court deemed the trial court to have found that the relocating mother had succeeded in overcoming the presumption against relocation. This therefore shifted the burden to the non-relocating father, who sought a transfer of custody from the mother to himself.
The court ruled that any change of custody continued to be governed by the McLendon standard and that it would not disturb the finding of the lower court on ore tenus evidence that the father had not met his burden.
The father and the mother both presented evidence regarding their relationship with the child and their fitness as parents. It is clear that both parties love the child and want the trial court to act in the child’s best interest. There was ample evidence presented to the trial court from which it could have found that it was in the child’s best interest to move with the mother to New York. During the time that the child has been in the mother’s custody, the mother has seen to the child’s medical needs and educational needs. There is little evidence that the mother’s devotion to the child’s needs will change after moving to New York. Also, the mother has participated in counseling, along with Dr. Teitel (the mother’s new husband) and the child, to encourage a smooth transition for the child in New York.
The evidence supports the trial court’s determination that the child’s best interest and welfare will not be materially promoted by transferring custody of the child to the father. Ex parte McLendon, supra. There is no doubt that the mother’s move to New York represents a significant transition in the child’s life. However, the benefits the child will receive by moving to New York with the mother, the mother’s role as the child’s primary caregiver, and the mother and Dr. Teitel’s willingness to support a continuing relationship between the father and the child support the trial court’s judgment allowing the mother to move with the child to New York and denying the father’s petition to modify. Therefore, we cannot say that the trial court erred in entering its judgment denying the father’s petition to modify custody.
My husband’s ex-wife has tried to commit suicide 2 times within the last 2 weeks. My husband has joint custody but he is the secondary and she is the primary. We have proof that she has tried to commit suicide and has been in and out of mental institutions for the last year and a half. We would like to get temporary and then permanent custody of his son. What steps do we need to take at this time? We have been to several lawyers and cannot afford to pay the fees so we are going to have to try to file the petitions ourselves. Can you give us advice on how we should handle this matter and what course of action we need to take?
My guess is that you would be making a mistake to take this on without using a lawyer. Pull the list of custody factors at https://divorceinfo.com/alcustodyfactors.htm and go through them one by one. Don’t assume that Mom’s attempted suicides mean Dad wins. Look at EACH factor, and think through the arguments each parent would make. Then sit down with an experienced family lawyer for an hour and work through the list. By the time you finish, you’ll have a pretty good idea what chance you have of winning. Then you can decide whether to turn all this on.
does the father have to give his address when he moves? he is taking my child to another city 60 miles away and he will not give the address up. she is scared to go because she wants me to be able to come get her if she becomes upset.
thank you,
kelly leonard
alabama
Yes he does. Why not give daughter a cell phone and just tell her to call you from a private place once she arrives and knows the address?
I’m interested in moving from Huntsville to Middle Tennessee (90 miles away). I have a 2.5 year old son that sees his dad every other weekend. The EX doesn’t pay child support, cannot hold a job, has gotten a DUI, and has been involved in a hit-and-run within the past 6 months. Besides wanting to move, I’m beginning to see some signs of neglect during his visitation (child coming home dirty and hungry, Always having on a dirty diaper even though he’s potty trained). I’m documenting everything, just in case.
I’m struggling financially in Huntsville living by myself. Even with a BS degree and an excellent job, I can barely make ends meet.
I will be moving to Tennessee and getting married to a very stable and kind man. This will give my son a stable 2 parent household and make our live much more secure financially.
I don’t even know if the EX will contest. I will try to work it out with him beforehand. And will drive from Tennessee to ensure that they see each other.
Does this sound like a hard case to win if he, in fact, does contest?
Yes, it does sound like a hard case to win. That is, it would be hard for the custodial parent to succeed in leaving the state.
Mr. Borden,
I moved out of state 9 months ago. My ex knew we were moving and his attorney discussed the relocation statute with my attorney. My attorney told his that the statute did not require notice in my case since my ex had been found to have sexually molested our daughters (by DHR) and the finding was affirmed on appeal. Nevertheless, now 9 months later, my ex filed for and is receiving a hearing regarding the move. What are the possible outcomes? Was my attorney incorrect in his interpretation?
Go back and read the statute. My recollection is that everyone is required to give the notice and that the only difference when domestic violence is present is whether the presumption against relocation is required.
what statitics can you provide that show on average how many relocation cases are actually won by the relocating parent in alabama? do you also have specific examples of how they were acheived and through which law firms?
Not a shred. Sorry.
I am currently going through a divorce in Montgomery County. My husband is in the Army and there are no Army bases within the 60 mile radius. he will be stationed in Germany for the next 3 or 4 months and then Afghanistan. according to his position he can only be stationed in KY, GA, or overseas. he has been in basic training or AIT her entire life and has seen her only 5 times. I want to move to Birmingham or Atlanta and i have Job positions available in both. My daughter is only 4 months old and i am currently living with my parents. with me giving sufficent notice do i have a good case for moving?
Beats me. Obviously, you will want to build as strong a case as possible for why it’s in your child’s best interest not only to take her away from her (admittedly rare) visits with her Dad but also to take her away from her grandparents. It sounds like a tough sell to me if Dad objects.
I moved to Alabama 3 years ago from Arizona, got divorced last year and want to return back to Arizona. My parents and two brothers also moved to Alabama. My brothers are moving back next month since none of us have been able to make it here financially. My Ex and I have joint custody. My son just turned two. We travel often to Arizona, since that is where all of our family is from. He has spent 1/3rd of the year there and has gone back and forth 15 times since birth. I have a great job offer in Arizona, but face filing bankruptcy if I have to stay here. In addition, to me being his mother and primary caretaker – My ex is a good father, and has our child about 30% of the time and I will insure it remains about the same – only longer times between, do I have a good case for it being in my sons best interest?
Seems like a tough, close call to me. I honestly don’t know how your judge is likely to react.
My sons father and i have joint custody and i am looking to relocate to my home town in Boston, MA. We currently live in Montgomery county; However, jurisdiction is in Macon county. My son’s father and i met in college, he is from TX and im from MA. We had a child while in school and we both have graduated from college. He has made a life for himself here in alabama, however, i have not. I would like to move back to Boston, where all of my family resides, but he is not agreeable to this. I would like to be closer to family. He is a good father, my son visits wih him three weekends in a month (6 days a month). I am not from alabama….i have no family here. He does not have family here either, but he is able to drive 10 hours to TX to visit family. I do not make enough money to travel to Boston often to visit family. Also, he refuses to communicate with me regarding our son, he is a difficult person to get along with. Basically, joint custody does not work for us becuase of the lack of communication. He is also emotionally abusive towards me. I just want to go home (boston) and be with family. I gave him the relocation letter and i think he is going to object. what do you think my chances are? Do you think the judge will change custody arrangements and give him sole or primary custody? That would be detrimental to me and my son because he uses him to try and hurt me. Please help, any advice would be appreciated
Hi Lisa,
I think you have your work cut out for you. You’ll need to be prepared to show some TREMENDOUS advantages to your child from moving back to Boston. It doesn’t look good. I’m sorry.
Hi Lee, this is Lisa again. I posted the May 14th blog and you responded below it. Its been 30 days since my Son’s father recieved the relocation letter via certified mail. I sent it to his job because he would not go pick up the ones that i sent to his house. Well, his secretary signed for it on April 28th, 2009 according to the certified mail receipt. However, he has verbally objected to the move and he also sent me an email objecting, but he has not filed a case against me as of yet. I did call the Macon County court system and they did not have anthing on file stating that he filed a case to prevent the move. My move date is on or around Aug 22nd. Will i be in the clear to move if he does not file anything? And, if he did file something after the 30 days, will he be able to prevent the move? Thank you so much for your help!
Did you read the statute? What does it say?
Well, it does say that the move will be permitted if he does not file an objection with in 30 days. But, what if all of a sudden he decides to file an objection. Will it depend on the judge whether he wants to proceed with the case? What is the procedure if thats the case?
One more question. In the relocation letter when i inform the NCP that he has 30 days to object or the move will be permitted, should i have put the code (30-3-165). Here is my statment regarding the 30 days: “I would like to inform you that an objection to the relocation must be made within 30 days of the receipt of this notice or the relocation will be permitted, per Alabama law”. Was this statement sufficient? sorry, i just want to make sure that i followed the law.
Well, it does say that the move will be permitted if he does not file an objection with in 30 days. But, what if all of a sudden he decides to file an objection. Will it depend on the judge whether he wants to proceed with the case? What is the procedure if thats the case?
I don’t know anything other than what the statute says.
One more question. In the relocation letter when i inform the NCP that he has 30 days to object or the move will be permitted, should i have put the code (30-3-165). Here is my statment regarding the 30 days: “I would like to inform you that an objection to the relocation must be made within 30 days of the receipt of this notice or the relocation will be permitted, per Alabama law”. Was this statement sufficient? sorry, i just want to make sure that i followed the law.
Again, what does the statute say?
Well, the statute does not specify how to write it, just as long as the 30 days is included in the letter.
So there you have it. You’re ready to be a lawyer!
Lee, My husband and I have been in the divorce process for almost six months now. He has finally agreed that we are capable of reaching an agreement on our own without any further court appearances. I am trying to get my thoughts together about the details of our agreement; visitation, custody, etc. All of your blogs and transcripts, or should I say translations, of statutes and laws have been very insightful. Thank you, not only for putting all of this wordy legal jargon into layman’s terms, but for doing so simply, with a touch of humor and sarcasm.
Thanks! I’m glad the site is helpful.
If I am in Alabama as custodial parent, NCP is 2000 miles away, and I want to move, can I? Just wondering how this law relates to parents living in different states vs. both parents living in Alabama?
We have joint custody, I have physical custody. Move is actually closer to NCP, also will by a major airport where flights are cheaper and faster, I am moving to be close to family and will also be closer to NCP family. (not the ex, just his famiy)
Do I still have to get his permission to move? Visitation won’t change, I never deny any visitation, and with the move maybe the kid’s will see dad more.
Thanks!
my daughter is in contempt of court for moving her children more than 60 miles away from their father, whom she falsely accused of child molestion with her oldest daughter. He has taken two polygrafts and passed them. He filed an objection with the court,this has been a year ago, they have joint custody, but she will let no one see or talk to them,how long will it take to settle this. We miss our grandchildren terribly. It seem like the lawyers ,judges etc. don,t care that these children are suffering. As far as the molestation charge, the atttorney says there ready to drop it, but politics is playing a big part in it. Its election year. WHAT CAN WE DO.??????
Write your lawyer a letter and ask the lawyer’s opinion on how long it’s going to take for the judge to grant you visitation rights. Often these cases languish because the lawyers and the judge simply don’t know what to do and therefore do nothing. It takes action by the parties (that’s you) to get things moving.
To TS:
You still are required to give the notice, so you should provide it. If Dad objects, you can deal with it then. It seems unlikely he would object and even less likely that a judge would allow him to prevent your move if he did.
Thanks Lee. That’s what I thought. You would think he wouldn’t object, but he likes to make my life difficult every chance he gets.
Thanks again.
my ex-wife and my daughter are in process move to north carolina from south carolina without let me know. my son told me that my ex-wife will move in with her roommate in north carolina. since she did not let me know 45 days before she move. i did asked her if she willing to workout with agreement. she said “guess will see u in court” so i guess i will take her to court but i need do little research first before go to court. if i take her to court, what do i need to do? get lawyer?
from alabama
Are you confident you need to go to court? You’re protesting a move from SC to NC. In the big picture of things, does this move make that much of a difference to you in Alabama?
If your answer is yes, have yourself a gay old time suing Mom, but be sure you’re prepared for the question I just asked. I suspect it’s the question Mom and the judge will be asking too.
well i don’t know if need take her to court. i don’t know if it worth for me to take her to court or not since she took my daughter with her far away from me. if not necessary go to court then what do i need to do? let it go? or what?
Correct. If you decide to do so, you can just let this happen. Not every disagreement between divorced parents needs to be adjudicated.
My ex and both live in North Alabama. Moved here 6.5 years ago from Indiana. Our divorce was finalized 2 years ago. We divorced primarily because my ex has a sex addiction to porn and strip clubs. I’m the CP. In March, my ex began not returning my 2 kids (now nearly 12 & 13 years old) according to our agreed-upon schedule that we had used since before the divorce was final – about 3.5 years total. I discovered that we did not have an official visitation schedule attached to our decree to fall back to. My ex absolutely refused to return them on certain days as we had agreed to before, however, I tried to keep our normal schedule as much as possible, while seeking to file a petition to modify our decree to include a visitation schedule through my lawyer.
Since my filing, my hearing has been delayed and my ex has become very threatening and harassing, by phone, text, email, and in person, to both me and the children. I discovered that he tells the kids what to do when they’re at home with me, and gives them unusual non-school assignments which he expects them to have ready at their next visitation. He broke into my house (which he owns, but I have exclusive use of according to our decree) while I was on vacation. Since then, my children have revealed to me several unusual behaviors of my ex – such as forcing them to have bible studies on every visitation, and forcing them to read the bible out loud in public. I have had my kids in church twice a week since they were born, but he suddenly had a “come to Jesus” moment, and now wants to take over their church life. He has also attempted to attend my rather small church twice to intimidate me & the kids, and the 2nd time would not leave the church property, where I also work, until the elders threatened to call the police. He has harassed my pastor, and threatened to write a slanderous letter about me and my church in the local paper.
One morning this past week, he came to the house unannounced just moments after I left for work, and tried to coax the kids out of the house. So, for the 2nd time, I called the police. Since he owns the property, they won’t do anything about it, and they tell me I should move. His behavior has become so weird that the kids refuse to go on visitation with him. As a result of all this, my lawyer has advised me to allow only what visitation the kids and I are comfortable with until the hearing on the petition. It has come to the point where he will not even compromise to allow some visitation, but he says he will not bring them back when he’s supposed to, so I have refused to let him have any visitation until the hearing.
My kids and I want to move back home to Indiana where ALL of my family and ex’s family is. We tried to move 2 years ago, but the ex objected and threatened to try to get custody. With him being a sex addict, I didn’t want to even chance it, so I dropped my proposed move. Do you think that his recent behavior is a valid reason to move, and enough to overcome the presumption that a move is not in my children’s best interest? My kids and I certainly do. We want to live near family and to live in peace.
If I were your judge, I would take your concerns seriously and would respond sympathetically to your request to move. The problem is that I’m not your judge. Ask your attorney to help you gauge how likely it is that your judge would allow you to leave. And then make your decision about how aggressively to pursue this.
in AL the 60 mile restriction is that 60 miles driving or 60 mile radius?
THANKS SO MUCH FOR A QUICK RESPONSE!!
When I see judges looking at the issue, it’s a mix. If I were a judge, in the absence of direction by the appeals court, I would use the driving miles standard, because it will catch cases that the radius standard would miss.
I am contemplating moving from my current residence which is currently about 25 miles from my ex-husband into the city where he lives. Our son would be 5 minutes from his Dad. I realize I have to give him the address, etc. Do I have to give him 45 days notice before I move even closer to him and to my son’s school, etc.? Thanks in advance.
In the absence of a court order to the contrary (typically in cases of domestic violence to protect a victim of abuse), everyone who moves must give the notice, even if the move is just next door, and the notice must be 45 days or more in advance of the move unless the moving party didn’t know about the move until later and had no way of knowing about it.
Thanks. This is the deal, my significant other and I just decided yesterday to get married and will be doing so very soon unless, I can’t move my son with in 45 days. Would that be considered “not knowing” if we just made the decision yesterday and get married in the next few weeks?
Nope. Sorry.
my daughter is married and lives in alabama. her husband lives with another woman. she needs surgery on her legs but has no family in al. can she relocate to a state with family? she is married no divorce has been filed and she has physical custody. please respond quickly thanks, concerned mother.
Hi,
I might be getting a job offer in another state (8 hours away). My decree says that I have to notify 45 days in advance or within 10 days of finding out that I’m moving. It would be for a 25% pay increase (40k to 50k), better schools, and my sister would be moving with me to provide childcare. My ex doesn’t pay the mandated child support and has one hour of visitation a week because he has psychological issues. My son is 15 months old. I am willing to work with him and his parents as far as maintaining the relationship and visitation. My main question… If I got the job I would have to start within 2-4 weeks. I would therefore have to give notice at my job pretty soon after finding out. That would mean if they contested and won, I wouldn’t have a job where I am. How do the courts work with situations like that? My ex is unpredictable because of his psych issues so I’ll discuss it with him, but I have no idea how he’ll react. I have a message into my lawyer, but am interested in your opinion.
I’ve not seen this situation before, so I don’t know how the courts deal with it. I understand the problem, though, and I bet you’re not alone. The only thing that occurs to me is that with this short a fuse, if you know now you’re going to make this move you should give Dad the notice ASAP.
I have lived in Montgomery, Alabama my entire life. I got married young and divorced in 2006 because my ex-husband was abusive. After the divorce, I had a difficult time getting myself settled and my mother and her sister helped me with this, or so I thought. I worked long hours, sometimes late nights, preventing me from being an active part in my daughter’s school life and my mother would put her to bed. When I would try to get my daughter, even on the weekends, my mother would say things like it will disrupt her school schedule. When this wouldn’t work, she would just not answer the phone or the door. I never notified the authorities about this because my mother was “helping” me with my daughter after all. She asked me for custody a couple of times but I declined and she would not ask again for 6 months or so. This went on for 2 years. Almost a year ago, I decided I wanted my daughter with me for good, my daughter made it known that she wanted this as well(this really upset my mother). My mother fought this tooth and nail, even going to the lengths of checking my daughter out of school and taking her to Ohio for a week. When they returned, my daughter’s opinion had changed(with some coaxing from my mother, of course). I contacted a Juvenile Detective at this time and he advised her that what she was doing was custodial interference and she returned, giving my daughter to me. I recently remarried and we have made every effort to provide for my child. However, when issues like car trouble came up, my mother would take my daughter to and from school and, because we lived on the other side of town, would not bring her home because it was “too far to drive in the mornings”. My husband has had a hard time finding a job and he received an offer in Shreveport, Louisiana. I placed my resume online and received 3 job offers in a 48 hour period, all of which were better positions and offered more money than the temp-to-hire job I had been working for the last year. I also secured a magnet school testing for my daughter. We advised my mother that we were going to move. She asked me to leave my daughter here until she finished school. At first, this seemed like a good idea. But a few days ago, my daughter came home, upset, and when I asked what was wrong, she told me that her Nana had asked if she wanted to move away with us and when she said yes, my mother had gotten upset and stated “if you want to be half-a**ed taken care of, I don’t care.” Prior to this being brought to my attention, my mother and I had discussed a temporary guardianship agreement. She claimed that it was in case they could not reach me in an emergency, she didn’t want her father involved in any decisions. I advised her that I could not grant her this guardianship because I shared joint legal custody with my ex-husband. She then asked for custody again, stating that she would receive more military benefits from her PTSD if she could claim my daughter. Once again, I declined. After this was brought to my attention, however, I decided that I could not trust my mother and did not feel comfortable leaving my daughter behind with her. I spoke with my daughter’s school and informed them that I would be withdrawing her. They prepared the paperwork. We rented the U-haul and I had given my job my notice of resignation and worked my last days. My husband and I went to Louisiana for my job interview and to find a home. While we were there, my mother called and said that my ex-husband had been to our daughter’s school to eat lunch with her and the school had called her and informed her that I was withdrawing my child(even though she is not listed as a person that information regarding my daughter could be released to, she just writes the check for the tuition, which is her choice because I have no problems with the public school system). My mother continued to threaten me after I advised her that I did not feel comfortable being 8 hours away from my child. I understood that she was upset. My brother has children that live in Memphis, TN with him and before in New Orleans and my mother would drive to visit them once a month, so I thought that she would do the same for my daughter. What she did was pick my daughter up from school and not answer the phone for 2 days. I contacted the local authorities because I was still in Louisiana, but they said that she would not come to the door. Finally, my husband and I got back on the road, placing our house-hunting and registering my daughter for school on hold to get back to my child. I was supposed to start work next week but cannot now because I have been here. My new job is working with me on this and pushed my training back a week. We got back to Montgomery, packed up the house because we’d vacated our lease and my husband drove the truck back to Shreveport. He then got on the bus 5 hours later to get back here, his job is working with him on this as well. We found out, after hours on the phone with the local authorities, that my mother had gotten my ex-husband a lawyer and contacted the Department of Human Resources and file some kind of paperwork. My ex-husband does not honor his visitation and is $15,000 in arrears with his child support. He just recently filed paperwork to get his child support amount reduced and custody modified claiming that he did not know where I lived and my daughter has been living with my mother and her sister. This is an untruth, but I have not released my address because of the abuse I suffered in our relationship. I cannot find out what is going on with DHR because the offices were closed due to snow and then for Presidents Day. My mother has allowed me to speak with my daughter 2 times in 4 days: first to tell me she is on vacation (my mother hung up the phone when my husband and I asked where she was) and for Valentine’s Day, but I could hear someone in the background telling her what to say and then they told her to tell me she had to go and hung up again. I have not seen my child in almost 7 days and it will be longer than that when DHR finally opens its doors. I am extremely distraught and know that my ex-husband is doing this out of spite(he visits my daughter once a month at her school for lunch and does not want custody but will do what he can to keep me from doing better) and because he thinks that this will benefit him as far as child support is concerned, and my mother because she has been wanting custody for her own personal gain. I did not notify my ex-husband because I did not have all of the necessary information yet. If my mother is given custody, she is going to continue to keep me from seeing and speaking to my daughter. She is also going to continue to speak negatively of me and my ex-husband to our child. My daughter will also miss her magnet school testing and be deprived of the opportunity to have a two parent home. I do not want to take her away from them, I just want to give her a better life in a bigger city with more opportunity for my husband and myself and for her and a lower standard of living (which will keep us from struggling). My husband’s family is there as well, which will give her plenty of cousins her age to socialize with. What could have been filed and what can I do in this situation?
I’m in a difficult situation and needed a second opinion. After reading this, I feel that I have made a decision that will come back to haunt me. I am a mother of two and was born and raised in Prattville, Alabama. I have joint custody of the children. Last year, I decided that joining the Air Force Reserve would be in mine and children’s best interest. It would get me a good job and put me back in college. I was serving tables for a living and it was getting extremely difficult to take care of myself and the girls. So my X’s mother came to me and wanted to help. She would watch the children while I go. I relocated to Alexandria, Virginia and tried to join the Air Force Reserve at Andrews Air Force base. I was staying with my significant other who is a First Sergeant at Andrews Air Force Base and he was helping me to better myself for me and my girls. The process of joining became very time consuming due to some of my medical records and after 4 months of trying to join, I found out that my boyfriend and I were expecting, which came to us as a surprise. After talking with my lawyer, I was summoned by the court in Alabama by my X husband and his mother who was helping me with the children. My X husband has been proven to be an unfit father due to drug abuse. He was put in Bradford and finally released just to get caught back up in drugs again. Now I’m temporarily not able to join the Air Force and my boyfriend and I are planning to get married soon. However, my lawyer thinks its best for us to move back to Alabama from Virginia but my boyfriend cannot find a government position at Maxwell Air Force Base and it is in his best interest to stay at Andrews because of his stable position as Chief of Public Affairs. He would have to lower his rank and pay scale if he were to move to Alabama and this wouldn’t give him a stable job. This is not in the best of interest for us as well as the unborn child as well as my girls. I have all the paperwork for the Air Force proven that I was in the process of joining and now with the news that I’m expecting and my boyfriend and I are planning to get married, what is the possibility of getting my children relocated to the state of Virginia? I know the Grandmother has been taking care of them while I was away, and I came down to visit twice. She came to me in good graces but just to turn this around on me to benefit her and her son who has a drug problem. Any advice would help a lot.
This is a complex case involving multiple arguments on both sides. You’ve already done the smartest thing you can do in a case like this, and that’s to hire a good lawyer and then TAKE THAT LAWYER’S ADVICE. If your lawyer is telling you it would be in your best interest to return to AL, I think you should do that.
I was never married to the father and moved to Alabama from another state. And my child was born in the other state. The father has never spent one hour with the child and lives out of state. Now, all of a sudden when he finds out that his wife cannot have children he wants custody of the child. Paternity has been determined and child support was awarded in AL, some child support is being received, but only intermitently and no visitation has be requested or awarded. But I found out from an attorney that the county that awarded the paternity order in AL never awarded physical or legal custody to either parent. I have written correspondence from the father telling me that he will never acknowledge the child. I have petitioned the courts for both physical & legal custody but I have not received a court date yet. So, my questions are: 1) what are the chances of my getting physical & legal custody of te child? 2) I’m thinking of taking a job transfer to another state & I am wondering if & why I need to give 45 days notice to the non-custodial “Ghost Dad?” Thx.
1) what are the chances of my getting physical & legal custody of te child?
Barring something you haven’t included, like some severe problem about the way you’re parenting the child, your chances should be excellent. Read the page on custody fights – https://divorceinfo.com/childcustodyfight.htm – and especially, print the list of custody factors at https://divorceinfo.com/alcustodyfactors.htm . Actually go through the process of evaluating yourself and Dad on each factor, in writing. Then take the results of your work to your attorney.
2) I’m thinking of taking a job transfer to another state & I am wondering if & why I need to give 45 days notice to the non-custodial “Ghost Dad?”
‘Cause that’s what the law says you have to do.
Could you please tell me how long it takes to get a court date for relocation?