Parent Wants to Move Out of State in Child Custody

If you want to relocate with your child or you are fighting your spouse relocating this is what you need to have ready for the judge.

I've been getting a lot of questions from people who have the issue of relocation in their child custody case. Either they want to move out of state, city, town, country with their child or they are the parent who do not want their child to move out of state, city, etc.

So what do you need to show the judge if you are the parent who wants to be able to relocate the child or if you are the parent who is fighting against the other parent relocating the child.

Step 1: You always start with the best interest factors. So wherever you are located go to your States statutes and the child custody factors also known as the best interest factors for your state. I talk about the best interest factors in a lot of my videos.

If you want to download a free list of the child best interest factors go to my website http://commandthecourtroom.com and you can get a checklist of all of the best interest factors that the judge will look at. You have to be prepared to show in court how those best interest factors apply in your relocation case.

But what is different about relocation cases is that there are other factors above the Best interest factors that you have to address with the judge.

I am going to read to you some examples of questions that the judge is going to want answers to before he or she decides your relocation case. These may vary depending on what State you live in but this will be good start for you.

You have to talk to the judge about the potential advantages of the move and how you think it will improve the quality of life for the child. You have to talk about your motivation in asking that the court allow you to relocate with your child. And if you are the parent who is opposing the relocation of the child you have to show the judge what your motivation is in your opposition.

One thing you will need to show is what is the parenting time going to look like if this relocation is granted. Is the parent whose child is moving away going to be able to have parenting time and what is it going to look like. What is the transportation cost going to be for the parent who is going to have to travel to see the child? How is that cost going to be split and is it even going to be feasible for the other parent who will have to travel to see the child.

The judge will look at the impact that the move will make on the childs quality of life. The mental and physical toll it might take, what does the child actually want. What are the living conditions going to be? The judge will also look at the strength of the ties the child has currently with their school, friends, activ

For example if I have a client who wants to move their children I will ask them to get information about the children's new school, the rating of the school, how far is the school going to be from where that parent is living. I want to know what type of salary the parent is going to be making in the new location. So these are the type of questions that I am going to be asking and what the judge will want to know.