Jo Ann Citron's Answers

Can i make my childs father sign over his rights even though he pays child support, but acts as if she doesnt exist?

The short answer to your question is "no." A child who has two parents is not available for adoption by anyone else. And adoption is the only way I know of to terminate a legal parent's rights -- unless a parent voluntarily surrenders those rights. Once rights are surrendered or terminated and the parent's legal relationship with the child eliminated, the child support obligation ceases. Your complaint about the father is, alas, not that unusual. If his access to her stems from a court...

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What circumstances should one have to prove in order to get a modification in a split legal and joint custody case?

A modification action requires that you show that there has been a substantial and material change in circumstance since the time of the judgment. Difficulty in co-parenting is unlikely to meet the legal standard. If the modification action is one that seeks permission to relocate over the father's objection, then mother (if she has primary physical custody) will have to show that the move will offer her a real advantage and that she is not using the move as a way of interfering with father's...

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Can i move out of state with a joint legal and physical custody order in place? if i'm offered a better paying job

If 1) you were never married to your son's father, and 2) he was never given joint legal custody with you, then you will be able to move. However, if you are divorced from the father and the child is a child of your marriage, or if a court has granted the father any custodial rights, then you will not be able to move over his objection without the court's permission. Massachusetts law requires that even if you are the sole or primary physical custodian, you still have to have a good and...

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I have sole physical & legal custody of my children. Can the non-custodial parent take them out of state for a week?

Attorney Mason is correct about the modification. For now, look at the original court order that granted him access. If the only thing that he has a right to is one overnight each month and the order says nothing about longer visits, then he does not have the right to take the child out of state for a week, and you need not consent to it. If the father has gone to court to seek an expansion of his access to allow for the trip, then, as Attorney Mason has explained, he will have to...

I have full physical custody of my children and joint legal. What do I need to do to move to another state (RI) with my fiance?

Attorney Armstrong's answer is correct. A few additional points: The "real advantage" test asks whether you have 1) a good reason to move, and 2) whether your reason is sincere, i.e., not intended to deprive the father of access to the child. Massachusetts courts have found that moving to be with a husband will meet the "real advantage" test so long as you are not trying to defeat the father's contact. Moving from an apartment into a house is probably not, by itself, a sufficient reason to...