VSWALKER said:
I am a custodial parent from Florida who plans to relocate to Virginia & I have told the father of this & he doesn't like the idea of being away from his son. We have a written agreement of support we drew up together & had notorized that has worked well for the last 3 years. If we change the agreement to visitation for the summer months w/ holidays & had that notorized also, will I run into a legal problem with possible abandonment?
My response:
Although you didn't mention whether you had been married, it's nice to see that two parents cooperate with each other and have a certain amount of honesty between them concerning the needs of their child. I applaud you for that.
However, now things are getting "sticky" between the two of you. Quite honestly, your Agreement, and any new Agreement you make, notarized or not, hasn't been, and won't be, worth the paper it's written on if one of you decides to "breach" the Agreement. Such Agreements, when it concerns child support and custody, cannot be enforced - - e.g., there are no remedies to available to either one of you in the event of a Breach of a "private agreement".
You see, in order for an Agreement concerning child support and custody to be enforceable, it must be ordered by, and signed by, a judge.
Right now, without signed orders from a judge, either one of you could take your child anywhere you want without fear of running afoul of the law because there are no "court orders" in effect. It's only been your cooperation and honesty that has kept the two of you working together to make your child's life a good one.
See about obtaining court orders, and see an attorney to get the ball rolling.
IAAL
