mother taking child out of state

[fatherslove]

x( i am a 23 y/o unmarried dad of 2. my first son is 4 1/2 years old. Me and his mom do not live together. but we split custody and share responsiblites.  i  am living with my new girlfriend in a house that we purchased and have a 2month old daughter.  My ex wants to go to graduate school in another city almose 1500 miles away. My son and i are close and all the families live here in this town. How can i keep her from taking off with him.

[wendl]

What does your court order state regardlng relocation of children.

Why is mom relocating so far (family, job or just to go so school)

You can try to argue that she can attend gradute school in your area if they offer one there.

But the only real way to stop her is if it is court ordered that she cannot relocate with the child.

**These are my opinions, they are not legal advice**

[msjanbo]

My DH had the same problem.  His PBFH wanted to marry another guy 3 months after their divorce and relocate to FL (we lived in IL at the time).  They had spent their entire lives in IL (were 12 and 9 at the time), all family (her side and his) lived in IL, etc, etc.  Judge oked it - even though the divorce decree said she couldn't.  Turns out - the divorce decree wasn't worth anything, including the paper it was written on.  This judicial system is a crock of crap if you ask me.  Why do lawyers bother with all this wording in orders if the judge's overrule them later.  

[flewwellin]

You are completely right.  My DH had a similar problem. We live in NC and ALL the family on both sides are in NC. She states at the divorce/custody hearing that she is already engaged and was to be married the next month, and wanted to pursue her college degree in PA, and be able to be a stay at home mom so the kids wouldn't have to go to a daycare, and her future husband wasn't able to find a job like the one he had up there down here.  Well the judge ruled in her favor. We did have a relocation prevention in the separation agreement, and like yours wasn't worth the paper it was written on.  Here's what actually happened.  They were divorced in middle of May.  WE had the kids for 5 wks that summer, they never got married that June, DH and I did get married in July, when we told kids about marriage, BM was so mad and decided they'd go to the JP and get married and have a wedding later, she started school, the kids started daycare the second she got them back, & she got a job.  Her husband lost his job in December and had to take a lower paying job which didn't allow for all the benefits I didnt' list on here.  Everything she said she was going to do was a lie.