modification on visitation

We currently live in CA. I am the custodial parent of our 7 year old son. I plan to take my son with me and relocate to another state. His father and I have agreed to modify visitation, and I will pay 75% of the travel expenses. Would we still have to go to court to make the changes or can we write up our own agreement?

One more thing. I'm just curious. What is the standard out of state visitation and travel expenses paid?

Thank you very much for your helpful info.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by eileen:
[b]We currently live in CA. I am the custodial parent of our 7 year old son. I plan to take my son with me and relocate to another state. His father and I have agreed to modify visitation, and I will pay 75% of the travel expenses. Would we still have to go to court to make the changes or can we write up our own agreement?

One more thing. I'm just curious. What is the standard out of state visitation and travel expenses paid?

Thank you very much for your helpful info.[/b]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

First, you need WRITTEN permission from the father before you leave.

If the NCP moves out of state and the CP stays put, then the NCP generally has to pay 100% of costs. Which I think is fair. However, when the CP moves out of state and the NCP states put, there seems to be some differences in what should be paid. In most cases the split is 75% for the CP to pay. For this reason, you HAVE to have a proper visitation in place and not leave every other weekend in there. Otherwise, by the letter of the law and the agreement, the CP could end up paying 75% of travel costs every other weekend.

Therefore, Out of State visitation is normally changed to fewer but longer in duration. For a situation where the NCP currently has a good and frequent relationship, it could be,

1 Week at Spring Break - Odd Years only
4 Weeks in the summer (could be consecutive or broken down into two lots of two weeks)
1 Week at Christmas (out of the two kids have off school)
Plus up to 6 other weekend/events which incorporate other holidays.. Thanksgiving, Labor Day, Presidents Day, Independence Day etc

One thing to consider is whether you want a 7 year old traveling on their own. If not, you will be paying for the NCP to fly in and pick up the child and then fly back to return. Can get expensive. So you may end up with 75% of 9 trips a year.