[Kayteek]

My boyfriend has temporary full custody of his 2 children. We live in Missouri. The children's mother only has supervised visitation every Sunday but never takes it. We already went to court to finalize the parenting plan, and she is allowed the children every other Sunday after it is finalized. We will then have full custody. My questions are simple, yet it seems like we can never get an answer. Please help if you can.

Can we take the children on vacation? (If we miss one of her Sunday visits, that she never shows for will we be in trouble?)

After our custody arangments are in place, can we move out of the state? (my boyfriend will be going into the Navy)

[ScottGem]

To the Vacation question the answer is yes as long as you either get the mom's permission or are not away for her scheduled visit. I know this is a pain since you know she won't show up. But a court order is a court order. If, after further time, you document her not showing, you can petition the court for a modification. But as long as the court says you have to make the kids available to her every other Sunday, then you have to do it.

So that means that moving, without permission of the mom or the court is out of the question.

[Kayteek]

Thank you for your answer. We won't move without permission. The chidrens GAL says moving should not be a problem, especially with him going into the naval reserve.

[ScottGem]

That just means the GAL thinks the court will not prevent the move if requested. But you will need to ask first.

[s_cianci]

Yes, you can take the children on vacation. You may need to include in your parenting plan some provision for giving the mother advance notice when you plan to go away so that she'll know that she won't have visitation with them that particular Sunday. You may need to be prepared to give her another day as compensation. But if she never shows up for her scheduled visitations anyway, then it probably doesn't matter. As far as moving, if she contests it, it becomes a little trickier as your boyfriend is knowingly choosing a job (Navy) that will require a lot of travel and relocation. It'd be one thing if he were already previously established in that particular venue. But the fact that the mother doesn't exercise what limited visitation she's been awarded will weigh in your favor should she contest the move. If she doesn't, then you really don't have a problem.