Factors for Move-away Custody Disputes
| Citation | Vol. 38 No. 4 |
| Publication year | 2016 |
| Author | Maya Shulman, Esq. |
Maya Shulman, Esq.
Maya Shulman is in her 16th year of practicing law. Her clients include high asset and high net worth individuals, business people, homemakers, entertainers and professional athletes. Her experience includes litigation and mediation in all areas of dissolution, paternity, domestic and international move-away custody cases; as well as family formation including adoption and surrogacy contracts. She has represented numerous low-income litigants through the non-profit Vincent Family Law Center in Los Angeles. She has also lectured and trained the staff of Haven House, Inc., an organization assisting battered women and their children with legal representation regarding child custody and domestic violence matters.
After six months of tense negotiations, divorcing parents Robert and Emma Jessup (names changed) finally worked out a custody arrangement regarding their two young sons.
The court decreed that the children's primary residence would be with Emma, but she and Robert shared the joint legal custody. Both parents were adhering to the visitation arrangement, the children were adjusted and doing well in school, and relationships between both parents and children appeared to be positive.
Two years later, Emma became engaged to be married. Unexpectedly, her fiancé's company decided to move its headquarters from California to Arizona. His position was being moved along with headquarters. Emma assumed that as primary residential parent, she had the right to move with the children to be with her fiancé.
Robert had quite a different perspective. Since both parents had joint legal custody, he felt he had equal say in where the children were raised. He was unhappy about the boys moving, as were the children. Both Robert and the boys worried their bond would weaken with distance. Robert feared being, at best, a "weekend dad" and at worst, the forgotten dad.
Ultimately, Emma was permitted to move and take their sons. What factors did the court consider to support this outcome?
The move-away with children issue in custody cases is becoming more common in California for several reasons:
- Parents are forced to move where jobs are, and more and more California-based companies are relocating out of state.
- Parents feel compelled to take advantage of higher salaries and packages where ever they are located. Location becomes secondary to earning potential, perks, and packages.
- Parents often want to raise their children in...
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