Legal advice on Relocation and child custody

Joint Guardianship As a Texan parent who has gotten a divorce, you could soon find yourself wanting to move away. No matter what the reason may be, relocation is something that plenty of people contemplate after divorcing an ex-partner, Becker Family Law is here to help you understand everything there is to know about relocating after a split. Generally speaking, joint guardianship is appointed in Texas. This means that there is no primary custodian, and that both parents share equal responsibility for raising their child. This can be very helpful to families in some ways. In other ways, it can also be a detriment. Relocation Some of the biggest hurdles it creates revolve around matters of relocation. If you get a job elsewhere or feel the need to move because your current location is no longer providing your child with what they need, you will still need to take your ex-spouse and their location into consideration. This may mean that you can't move to where you wish, especially if it makes visitation more difficult for them. Be aware of the fact that you will need to take your case for relocation to court. If you can prove that the move will benefit your child, and that they can still visit their other parent frequently, then it's possible your request will be granted.

Best Interests of the Child The Family Court cares about the best interests of the child more than anything - and they should. This can be very frustrating for a recently separated or divorced parent who wants a new beginning. Moving may be a great decision for YOU but you have ask yourself is it best for my child. Whatever benefit your child will get from this new location (better schools, parks, near your family, etc.) must be weighed against the fact that if your child moves she will see the other parent less and that is almost always bad for the child. So before you get "hot and heavy" with a new person who lives out of state, think about where the relationship may lead. Are you willing to travel to see this person indefinitely? Does this person know that you are 100% committed to staying where you are for the benefit of your child? The same rationale goes for a change in employment. It is admirable that you want to move up the ladder, make more money, or just live in a better climate. But again this must be weighed against the impact on your child to uproot her from her school, friends, church, and most importantly the other parent. How far away can you move? It depends but you should be okay if where you want to move to is a place that is close enough for you and your ex to continue the same custodial schedule. Still, that is in the eye of beholder. My Law Office just completed (and won) a three day case where the other side sought to prohibit our client from moving 15 miles (and 20 minutes) away. We had to show the Court the traffic patterns so the Judge knew we were not putting the children in 50-60 minutes of traffic as alleged. I bring this up because other clients say that an hour commute for the children is not detrimental because they do it for their work commute. This is not analogous; children cannot endure that type of commute as well as adults and the Court will not look kindly on a parent that chooses to put them into that situation. If you must move too far away then you should discuss this with the other parent as soon as possible and coordinate what you will say to the children so as not to put them in the middle. You may also want to enlist help from a child therapist to help the child through this change and create an alternative custodial schedule.

A parenting plan is a formal document that outlines which school the minor children of the marriage will go to, how they will be cared for, their transportation between the two homes. It basically outlines how the parents now living in two separate homes will care for the children of the marriage.