NCP moved long ago... CP and child moving now

[SingsJazz]

My state: Washington

I divorced in 1997. According to our parenting plan, my ex and I have joint custody of our daughter. I have primary physical custody, and the parenting plan provided for him to see her every other weekend and for a longer period in the summer. I am the designated custodial parent, although it is true joint custody.

Just a couple of days after the divorce was final, my ex married and moved to South Carolina. He then moved to Nevada, and now resides in Texas. I still live in the same town in Washington. Because of this, he has never managed the every-other-weekend visitation, and my daughter has spent increasingly long periods with him in the summer, as she has grown old enough to do so.

I am now planning to remarry and move to Colorado, and suddenly my ex thinks our daughter should live with him instead. Because of the age of our parenting plan, it does not discuss relocation. I am moving closer to him and not farther away, so I know there is no legal restriction on my moving with my daughter, but he is being uncooperative about scheduling her summer visit and seems to think she should simply move to Texas. Of course, she knows and loves her father, but my daughter (nearly 12 now) has no desire to live with him. She will have a lovely home in Colorado with excellent educational opportunities, and a loving step-parent who is committed to building a relationship with her. Her situation is not in any way worsened by the move, other than that we are moving away from existing friendships.

As I mentioned, my ex is remarried and has two other children. He also has two step-children who have never lived with them, but reside in another state with their father.

My questions are these: Does our relocation constitute any material change that would be justification for him to try to change our original parenting plan? Do I have any obligation in terms of funding her travel to see him, since the original parenting plan was based on our being in the same city? (I have often paid for the plane tickets for her to visit him when he couldn't afford them, but I am suddenly reluctant to send her to Texas because I'm concerned that he will spend an entire month trying to browbeat her into moving there.) If he does not make arrangements for her to visit him, am I obligated to do so? Does he have any legal recourse to ask for a modification of the parenting plan based on my moving, since he has had only limited involvement with our daughter (by his own choice, not mine) for seven years?

And lastly, after my daughter and I move to Colorado, does the jurisdiction change to Colorado or does it remain in Washington where the original parenting plan was filed?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Yes you move could give him grounds to modify the existing parenting plan and from the sounds of things it should have been modified some time ago. You should consult a local attorney so you are sure to do the proper notifications and suggest mediation to modify the plan if he doesn't agree to the move and allow sufficient time. You will want to cover such things as, who pays for transportation and other holiday breaks, length of time in summer as opposed to EOW visitaiton. Here is the thing, she is 12 and if she has strong friendships or ties to the area the move, any move is going to be difficult on her. If she has significant activities such as sports, dance, drama, horseback riding, you want to plan for those in your new home so she has something to look forward to when she moves. Also the timeing of the move, make her a part of shopping for aa new home and decorating her room that will make the move easier for her. You don't have to change jurisdiction right away because you have to establish residency first.

 

[Noelle_71]

My state: Washington

I divorced in 1997. According to our parenting plan, my ex and I have joint custody of our daughter. I have primary physical custody, and the parenting plan provided for him to see her every other weekend and for a longer period in the summer. I am the designated custodial parent, although it is true joint custody.

Just a couple of days after the divorce was final, my ex married and moved to South Carolina. He then moved to Nevada, and now resides in Texas. I still live in the same town in Washington. Because of this, he has never managed the every-other-weekend visitation, and my daughter has spent increasingly long periods with him in the summer, as she has grown old enough to do so.

I am now planning to remarry and move to Colorado, and suddenly my ex thinks our daughter should live with him instead. Because of the age of our parenting plan, it does not discuss relocation. I am moving closer to him and not farther away, so I know there is no legal restriction on my moving with my daughter, but he is being uncooperative about scheduling her summer visit and seems to think she should simply move to Texas. Of course, she knows and loves her father, but my daughter (nearly 12 now) has no desire to live with him. She will have a lovely home in Colorado with excellent educational opportunities, and a loving step-parent who is committed to building a relationship with her. Her situation is not in any way worsened by the move, other than that we are moving away from existing friendships.

As I mentioned, my ex is remarried and has two other children. He also has two step-children who have never lived with them, but reside in another state with their father.

My questions are these: Does our relocation constitute any material change that would be justification for him to try to change our original parenting plan? Do I have any obligation in terms of funding her travel to see him, since the original parenting plan was based on our being in the same city? (I have often paid for the plane tickets for her to visit him when he couldn't afford them, but I am suddenly reluctant to send her to Texas because I'm concerned that he will spend an entire month trying to browbeat her into moving there.) If he does not make arrangements for her to visit him, am I obligated to do so? Does he have any legal recourse to ask for a modification of the parenting plan based on my moving, since he has had only limited involvement with our daughter (by his own choice, not mine) for seven years?

And lastly, after my daughter and I move to Colorado, does the jurisdiction change to Colorado or does it remain in Washington where the original parenting plan was filed?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

I don't think you will have a problem with this....he *can* object, but based on what you have said, I would think that any judge would say..Mr. Soandso, you allowed it before, what is your objection based on this time? Washington law will prevail. According to Washington Law, you must notify him in writing at least 30 days prior to the move. If he wants to object, he must file with the court. Furthermore, the fact that he was the one who moved first, second and third should carry weight with the court as you have been the stability in the childs life. Further, in most cases, if you share custody and live in the same area, but the NCP moves away, that pretty much lifts the restriction on you from moving as well. At least that is what I was told by my former attorney. Certainly you'll want to check out your own states guidelines..so..
Do a search on "Notice requirements and standards for parental relocation" for Washington State. Or search for "ESHB 2884" it should cover it pretty well.
Unless someone fusses at me, I'll post the link for you, this should tell you exactly what you want to know.
http://www.divorcenet.com/states/washington/wa_art13

 

[SingsJazz]

Thanks, Noelle.

This link is interesting -- I've actually seen it before. The problem is that I can't find anything in the new relocation law that addresses the relocation when the NCP has already moved away. Of course I've notified him of the move, and he'll have all the contact information, address, etc., but how could he have grounds to object to my moving her closer to him? Wouldn't that be considered an objection in bad faith?

 

[LdiJ]

Thanks, Noelle.

This link is interesting -- I've actually seen it before. The problem is that I can't find anything in the new relocation law that addresses the relocation when the NCP has already moved away. Of course I've notified him of the move, and he'll have all the contact information, address, etc., but how could he have grounds to object to my moving her closer to him? Wouldn't that be considered an objection in bad faith?

Don't over worry about this whole thing. You have properly notified him. If he wants to object to the move he will have to do so in WA, since WA has jurisdiction until you establish residency in CO. Since he lives in TX that means he is going to have to have an attorney to handle the case. Any reasonable attorney is going to tell him that he is going to look foolish for objecting to you moving closer to him.

Children's wishes don't rule at age 12. Your daughter's wishes may be given some weight in the case, particularly since she doesn't want a custody change but the judge will still make the decision based on overall best interest. Since the only change of circumstance that dad has is your move, and since your daughter doesn't want the custody change there is little chance that dad would prevail. Even if dad browbeats her into telling him that she wants to live with him, in the end her true wishes will come out in the process.

Now, as far as this summer's visit is concerned, the only thing you are obligated to do is whatever your current court orders say. You also don't have to provide the transportation, that's his responsibility. However, you want to be careful about denying him time with the child, because he will use that in court. He can't hold you in contempt for denying something that isn't in the existing orders, but he can try to make it look as though you are not cooperating with the child seeing him. It won't be a huge issue as this would be the first time you have done that....but it would add a little extra complication to your case.