In re the Marriage of Christopher and Deborah Cooper Condon

Jan 01, 1995

OUTCOME: court ordered a travel trust in which Mr. Condon paid a portion of the court ordered support for Ms. Condon into the trust. The trust proceeds were then used to pay for the travel expense incurred by the children for custodial exchanges.

I represented Christopher Condon. I was his second attorney hired in July 1995. I was his trial attorney. At the time of the trial, I was an attorney employed with the law firm of Kelly and Associat ... es. The trial lasted approximately 9 days. The biggest challenge was overcoming the child custody evaluator's recommendations which were not favorable to Mr. Condon. I successfully obtained a Joint Legal and Joint Physical child custody order. As a result of my expert's testimony regarding the cost of air travel, the court ordered a travel trust in which Mr. Condon paid a portion of the court ordered support for Ms. Condon into the trust. The trust proceeds were then used to pay for the travel expense incurred by the children for custodial exchanges. I argued at the trial that allowing the mother to move would have the effect of terminating the father's parental rights because he did not have sufficient funds to pay the travel expenses for custodial exchanges. The use of support to pay the travel expense was not allowed in cases involving long distant travel domestically. The Condon case was distinguished from the domestic cases because of the great distance between the parties' residences.