CP moving out of state

i have 2 children 3 & 5 and he is the custodial parent. our divorce has been final approx. 2 months and there is nothing written in the agmt regarding him/i moving out of state with the children. he now has quit his job and decided that he is taking the children out of state w/him. i am very much against this issue. what rights do i have w/o a mention of this in the agmt? can he just up and move away w/o any fight on my end? i had every intention of fighting him for custody as soon as i was situated in a good housing situation, job situation, etc. Can this still be an issue? can i fight him for custody? what are my chances of winning either of these battles? where do i begin - he is moving fast.

This is normally an easy answer.. but yours has a little twist which might work in your favour.

First of all, this is not legal advice in any way, shape or form.

The problem is that custody does not get changed unless there has been a major change in circumstances. Since your divorce has only been final for 2 months it is unlike a judge will rehear the case. What would help to know is why you lost custody ?..

No CP can leave a state without either your written permission or permission from a judge. One of the reasons for this is that such a change means the parenting agreement and visitation has to be changed. Since he is moving away, it will seriously effect your chance to have a continuing relationship with the children. In this event visitation is changed to fewer, but longer during, and the CP can be forced to pay 75% of your travel expenses.

So, up and moving without permission is a bad thing.. and since this is a major change, can contribute to reason enough for a judge to award physical custody to you.

So you have two choices.. either you tell him in advance os the move what the law is and explain you are going back to court. At this point, he has not moved so all you can do here is try and stop him from moving or get the parenting agreement changed. Chances are he will likely be able to move anyway providing he agrees to the changes in the PA and travel expenses.

Second option, you say nothing, go see an attorney and discuss custody with them. If he moves without permission, you have your major change of circumstances to justify a filing for physical custody.

Unfortunately, you will need a place of residence at this point, a job helps but more than anything.. you need money for an attorney.

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