What if she moves away with kids

[sbrad1414]

My boyfriend has a set of twin 5 year old daughters from a previous marriage. They have joint custody with her being the primary parent. He has not been able to get in touch with her for a week now. She has no phone because as she has told him in the past....if you paid me more maybe I could afford one. Anyway, he found out today that she has just packed up and moved to Florida (we are in Georgia). Per their paperwork she has the right to move out of state if she wants but can she do this without even telling him????? He has no idea if she has in fact "moved" or is just gone for awhile. Her mother lives there. But does she have the right to leave for a weeks at a time without notification?
What are his rights and what does he need to do? Does this fall under child abduction and can he file charges against her?

[HelpingHands]

Read the court order and look for specific wording regarding relocation, notification of intent to move, etc.. Unless there is something in the state's statutes preventing her from moving out of state and the order doesn't specifically address the issue, she may be within her rights to move. Is it right? No.

The only thing I can think of that would possibly get her in trouble if there is nothing addressed in the order, is if the visitation order states a specific place for pick up and drop offs and by her moving out of state it frustrates and interferes with your bf's visitations. She may be required to bring the children TO your BF for his visitations since she moved out of state and bare all expenses.

Read the order, check online statutes and speak to an attorney in your state. It's possible she may have to bring the children back to Ga if your bf can prove it's not in their best interests to be moved to Fl (change of physical custody).  

Post the specifics of the court order to Socrateaser's board on this site and he should be able to direct you. You must follow his guidelines at the top of his forum.

[Sherry1]

or his written permission (and if his custody paperwork says she can't move), then she is in violation of the court order.  A laywer can file contempt charges and she will have to come back and appear in court.  Your lawyer might suggest you file for custody.  

[Kent]

Since the children have lived in one county (I assume?) for the past 6 months, this county will have jurisdiction over all issues you bring before a court.

What this means is that, regardless of what the court order says about her being able to move, especially an out-of-state move is a significant change of circumstances - which may justify a change of custody - which you may bring in front of a court in the county of jurisdiction.

I would file for an emergency hearing, asking the court to order the children to stay in the county they lived in (not the mother, she may go wherever she wants to, but the children stay).
If you are unable to locate her to have her served for the emergency hearing, you may even ask for an Ex Parte.

I don't know if your BF lives in the same county, or even the same school district, but that would be of great assistance to you.

However, your BF needs to act NOW. Any day he waits will be held against him in court ("Why did he wait that long, does he not care about the children?")

Good luck!

Kent!