Thanks Pro,
Since there is nothing in the court order about moving or transporting at all, can I tell him that I will be at the half way spot for drop off and if he doesnt show I will wait for (lets say) 30 minutes after his visitation time starts then he forfits his visit if he doesnt show up? Basically I just have to make the kids available for his visitation right?
I would advise against this. First, it means that both parents need to be horribly inconvenienced every other weekend. Plus, there all be traffic, accidents, weather, and other delays that will make 30 minutes impractical. If you really must go with this plan, I would go with 'receiving parent drives'. That means a long (6 hours in the car) day for each of you, but it might be more practical than 2 x 3 hours in the car.
However, I don't think I'd readily agree to it at all. Why should your weekends be messed up because he chose to move so far away? It should be his problem to find a way to get the kids to visit. How old are the kids? Is there public transportation available between the two places?
But see below about long distance visitation.
Easy enough, thanks CJane.
(he sent me an email moments ago suggesting that we do something verbal since he says that we "cant do anything to change the visitation agreement )... not to sure that I like that idea. Its better to have it in writing I would assume
Do not agree to this verbally. It is actually a very simply matter to stipulate a change in visitation to the agreement. Since he has an attorney already, my guess is that it would only take an hour or less to write it up fi the two of you are in agreement.
Verbal agreements are worthless.
You may want to say that you won't travel more than (fill in the blank) miles for visitation.
Also, 600 miles EOW is really not doable for an extended period of time. You might want to research long distance visitation parenting plans.
That's where I'd go. Since I believe you would be within your rights to insist that Dad provide the transportation since he's the one moving, that would be 12 hours in the car (6 hours for the kids) every other weekend. If Dad is willing to do that, it should be his choice, but I'll bet it wouldn't last beyond the first month before he started skipping.
A long distance visitation plan is probably going to be better - especially since he seems willing to relocate away from the kids. How long do you think it will be before it's 300 miles away - or 3000?
Either way, though, I would argue that it's his responsibility to provide for the cost of transportation. Of course, if he's putting the kids on a bus or plane, then you would meet them and drop them off, but other than that, ask the court for him to pay since he's the one who chose to leave his children. There's a good chance that you'll get it - and, in the end, even if you don't, you won't get worse than paying 1/2 the transportation. Dad's dreaming if he thinks you should pay all of it - unless you're incredibly wealthy and he has no way of earning a living in your city. Even then, it would be a very long shot.