Hi! I appreciate any info that anyone can share with me. I am a mom that wants to relocate with my 5 yr old daughter this June from California to Northern Louisiana.The father sees her every other weekend, has never taken advantage of the Wednesday night visitation he legally has, and other than that he has no involvement in her life. He has only attended 3 extra-curricular activities and rarely calls. I have never intruded in his visitation and we are very cordial to each other. We have joint legal custody and I have physical custody.

We have been divorced for 4 years, he is re-married and I am getting married to a man that is financially established in Louisiana. I have been accepted into a university program there that will expedite my senior year much faster than the Ca university I am presently attending. The bottom line is that I would be making more money faster in Louisiana. Also, since the cost of living is much lower over there, I think that all of this will improve my daughters financial security.

I will soon have to move out of my apartment anyway, (my landlord is selling his property this summer), which will create a massive financial hardship and may force me to quit college while in my junior year if we remain in Ca. Moving to Louisiana would solve these problems and improve my daughter's living conditions. I don't have family there besides my fiance's giant family, but my grandparents and parents have said that if I move, then they will follow.

I am not trying to "take away" our daughter from my ex and we get along fine. What do you think my chances are of winning this case? I haven't told the father yet. Is this mission impossible??
:confused:

If your custody agreement says you can not move out of state without fathers permission and he will not give his permission. He is seeing the child every week, which is a lot for many parents,

I do not know of any judge that will take the child away. If you were to pay for the child's travel to see the father, give him at least a week at Christmas and most of the summer, he may agree, but without working out a deal he will agree to, I would not start packing.

[QUOTE=Mom12]Hi! I appreciate any info that anyone can share with me. I am a mom that wants to relocate with my 5 yr old daughter this June from California to Northern Louisiana.The father sees her every other weekend, has never taken advantage of the Wednesday night visitation he legally has, and other than that he has no involvement in her life. He has only attended 3 extra-curricular activities and rarely calls. I have never intruded in his visitation and we are very cordial to each other. We have joint legal custody and I have physical custody.

We have been divorced for 4 years, he is re-married and I am getting married to a man that is financially established in Louisiana. I have been accepted into a university program there that will expedite my senior year much faster than the Ca university I am presently attending. The bottom line is that I would be making more money faster in Louisiana. Also, since the cost of living is much lower over there, I think that all of this will improve my daughters financial security.

I will soon have to move out of my apartment anyway, (my landlord is selling his property this summer), which will create a massive financial hardship and may force me to quit college while in my junior year if we remain in Ca. Moving to Louisiana would solve these problems and improve my daughter's living conditions. I don't have family there besides my fiance's giant family, but my grandparents and parents have said that if I move, then they will follow.

I am not trying to "take away" our daughter from my ex and we get along fine. What do you think my chances are of winning this case? I haven't told the father yet. Is this mission impossible??


All of the other factors aside - better education for you means a better income for you and so forth - your Divorce decree will determine what you can do.

If it gets that far the Court is probably going to put your child's relationship and every other weekend visits with her father ahead of your purposes in moving and deny your request.

You don't know what your ex and/or the Court will say until you ask - Fr. Chuck offered good advice in that regard.

Why not ask your new Bo to move to Cali and that way you don't have to uproot everyone just because you want to do something ? As far as financial well being you need to look at facts and not fantasy. The reason the cost of living is less in the south is because they pay less for comparable jobs. So yes that's about 1/2 of what you would make doing the same job in Cali. So the cost of living is a relative thing and not a panacea that it is believed to be. Have you thought about what your going to need to do if your ex and or courts say no to your request ?

A lot will hinge on whether the father will contest the move. If he does then that makes it all the more difficult. Not impossible, just more difficult. From what you've described it sounds like you should be able to convince the judge that this move would be in your daughter's best interests and that becomes factor #2 after the father's rights. Discuss your plans with the father and see what he says. Then take it from there.

I am curious to know how this turned out. I went through a similar situation years ago with my children. All my family was in Utah, but I had moved to Ca. to be with my ex. The courts did not allow me to move out of state, even thought my two older children's father lived in Utah. I also was living on welfare back then, and could have made a better life for my children by moving home to Utah with my parents and being able to work or go to school. The Ca. courts did not care about any of this. All that mattered is that I not leave the state.

OP has not been back since March of 2008, almost 2 years and most probably will not read this.

If you have a question, why don't you open a thread?