Sabo vs. Sabo
Dec 29, 2006OUTCOME: Client allowed to relocate (Germany) w/ daughter
Kena represented Cindy Sabo ("Mother") in a post-divorce case concerning custody modification and relocation. When the parties originally divorced, the child was just a few months old. The divorce wa ... s amicable. Parties divorce decree (by agreement) stated that the parties would share physical custody of the child 50/50; and then, when the child became school age, the decree stated that one parent was to have custody during the school year, and the other to have custody during the summer. The order did not specify which parent would have school year vs summer custody. Until the child started school, the parties did, in fact, share custody equally. When the child started school, the parties decided that Father would have custody during the school year and Mother would have custody during the summer. The parties shared physical custody in this way for several years. When the child reached the age of 11, she expressed interest in changing the physical custody arrangement so that she would spend the school year with Mother and the summer with Father. The parties did not agree on modifying the custody arrangement and accordingly, Mother filed a petition to modify custody and to relocate with the child to Germany (Mother was in the U.S. Air Force). At the end of the trial, the judge conducted an in camera interview with the child. The trial judge ordered that Mother was permitted to relocate to Germany with the child during the school year and that Father would have the child during the summer. Although most cases where one party has a child during the school year and the other has the child during the summer, it is considered that the party with school year custody has primary physical custody and the other has parenting time. The reason for this is presumably because 9 months (school year) with one parent vs. 3 months (summer time) with the other is not equal parenting time, and generally not referred to as a “joint physical custody” arrangement. However, the parties’ original order stated that the parties were to share joint physical custody (equally until the child started school, then with one parent during the school year and the other during the summer). Although the judge awarded Mother the parenting time arrangement she requested, it was determined that because of the way the original order was written, it was not required that the original order be modified. Therefore, the court denied Mother’s petition to modify custody, but awarded her the school year parenting time that she requested. The entire case is found at http://www.ai.org/judiciary/opinions/pdf/12290603ehf.pdf.
