Can I keep my developmentally disabled son's Dad from moving out of state?

[ymstern]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey

My 13 year old son is developmentally disabled and presents very challenging behaviors. His Dad takes him on the weekends. His Dad now wants to move out of state. I know that I am not physically, emotionally, or mentally able to care for my son without the respite that I get on the weekends. It is the only thing that keep sme sane.

How can I find out what I can do to prevent this from happening?

 

[Gracie3787]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey

My 13 year old son is developmentally disabled and presents very challenging behaviors. His Dad takes him on the weekends. His Dad now wants to move out of state. I know that I am not physically, emotionally, or mentally able to care for my son without the respite that I get on the weekends. It is the only thing that keep sme sane.

How can I find out what I can do to prevent this from happening?

Visitation is a right, not a legal obligation and usually the court cannot force a NCP to exercise thier visitation rights.

Although there are 2 things you can do:
1. Check your court order, is there any provision in it requiring notice of either parent moving?
If there is you can file to TRY to stop him from moving, although it may not work.

2. Although he can't be ordered to exercise visitation you can have the CS modified to have additional care costs added in ( it can't be considered respite because that is for your benefit). Check around to see what kind of programs are available in your area.

Hopefully someone else can give more advice.

 

[special mom]

2. Although he can't be ordered to exercise visitation you can have the CS modified to have additional care costs added in ( it can't be considered respite because that is for your benefit). Check around to see what kind of programs are available in your area.

Hopefully someone else can give more advice.

I know that I am just a new person here with no legal experience, but I question if respite would actually be considered for the parent because it ensures better care for the child as well. Again, I don't know, just a question.

But for something I do know about, there are agencies who help with repite care for developmentally disabled children. I am including several links that hopefully will get you headed in the right direction. There are a lot of people out there who understand what you are going through, hang in there.

www.state.nj.us/humanservices/ddd/index.html
www.state.nj.us/humanservices/NJChildrensTrustfund/support.html
www.state.nj.us/humanservices/services.html
www.arcnj.org/
www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/comm/new-jersey.html

Regardless of what your child's disability is, a good place to begin is the ARC. They offer help and support to families of all developmental disabilities. You need to apply for services through the dept. of human services, I am not sure about NJ but I know in MD this is NOT based on income, only on disability. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions regarding resources.

Special Mom