SouthEagle
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Mississippi
Hello all. I am hoping I can get some objective advice on a situation.
Mom and dad split up, and shared custody back in 2008. Mom moved out of state and agreed to dad being primary. Mom has very generous visitation of around 150 overnights. She is current on child support.
Dad, while being a great father, struggled with being the primary caregiver to 3 girls and agreed to the kids staying with maternal grandmother, who lives 5 minutes away from him. He sees the kids daily but Grandma provides the actual daily feeding, care, etc.
Mom has made it very clear that she would like custody of the kids but dad does not feel this is best. The only thing mom can say is that she does make more money and they have their own room, and the older girls would probably express a desire to live with her if asked, but only because they feel that they are missing out on having a "mom" around full time. Dad's lawyer does not feel that she has a significant change of circumstances.
Dad is now making plans to move to Florida to live closer to his own mother. He plans to have the same arrangement/set up with his mother that maternal grandmother exercises. Mom and Grandma have voiced serious objections. The move would put the kids in better schools and give dad more job opportunities (he is a teacher). There is nothing in the custody agreement about dad being prohibited from moving and his lawyer says he is fine to move and just has to notify mom.
Also, there is a morality clause in the custody agreement stating no unrelated sleep overs. Grandma is not married and has been cohabitating for a decade. Mom is currently getting ready to get married for a THIRD time just so she can live with her boyfriend and still see the kids. Dad has not even dated anyone. Maternal grandmother is married.
The question is: do mom and Grandma have grounds to object to this move?
Do mom or grandma actually have any standing to seek primary custody themselves?
Can dad get his child support increased if he moves away on the basis that mom will no longer be visiting as much or contributing through grandma? Dad agreed to child support calculations being based off moms after tax income before.
Thank you very much for your time.
Hello all. I am hoping I can get some objective advice on a situation.
Mom and dad split up, and shared custody back in 2008. Mom moved out of state and agreed to dad being primary. Mom has very generous visitation of around 150 overnights. She is current on child support.
Dad, while being a great father, struggled with being the primary caregiver to 3 girls and agreed to the kids staying with maternal grandmother, who lives 5 minutes away from him. He sees the kids daily but Grandma provides the actual daily feeding, care, etc.
Mom has made it very clear that she would like custody of the kids but dad does not feel this is best. The only thing mom can say is that she does make more money and they have their own room, and the older girls would probably express a desire to live with her if asked, but only because they feel that they are missing out on having a "mom" around full time. Dad's lawyer does not feel that she has a significant change of circumstances.
Dad is now making plans to move to Florida to live closer to his own mother. He plans to have the same arrangement/set up with his mother that maternal grandmother exercises. Mom and Grandma have voiced serious objections. The move would put the kids in better schools and give dad more job opportunities (he is a teacher). There is nothing in the custody agreement about dad being prohibited from moving and his lawyer says he is fine to move and just has to notify mom.
Also, there is a morality clause in the custody agreement stating no unrelated sleep overs. Grandma is not married and has been cohabitating for a decade. Mom is currently getting ready to get married for a THIRD time just so she can live with her boyfriend and still see the kids. Dad has not even dated anyone. Maternal grandmother is married.
The question is: do mom and Grandma have grounds to object to this move?
Do mom or grandma actually have any standing to seek primary custody themselves?
Can dad get his child support increased if he moves away on the basis that mom will no longer be visiting as much or contributing through grandma? Dad agreed to child support calculations being based off moms after tax income before.
Thank you very much for your time.