Here is my situation...
My husband and I separated in January of 2004. My son moved in with me until February of 2005 and then he decided that he wanted to live with his father because he missed his old school etc...
I agreed to this because I knew he fealt strong about it and because I felt bad that I took him away from his siblings (my step children). He has lived with his father since and complains about it everyday because he misses me terribly. We live 30 minutes away from one another and I pick him up as often as I can just to spend time with him. He is with me every weekend and anytime during the week that I choose. I just call and say I am coming and his father is fine with it. I have told my son for the last year that I would be moving to a place near his school so that he could live with me. I needed to get out of one lease before I could sign another. I recently started looking for a place near his school and my husband (we are not divorced just yet) had papers drawn up for child support and is now telling me that our son will stay with him. If there is a no court ordered custody of the child is it legal for me to move next month and take my child to live with me? What are the chances that a court would award him custody? I am a hard working professional woman who can make my own hours at work and be with my son as often as possible. His father is a man who works until midnight or so everyday and now that my sons siblings are at college he is home alone all of the time. He is twelve... how many twelve year old children should be left alone that late at night. I hate to be home that late at night, I can't imagine how a twelve year old feels. His father is at work when my son gets home from school and my son is asleep when his father gets home from work. Would the courts award custody to a man like that. There is so much more to this story I could type for days. I need someone to help me sleep at night since this has happened. Please help!!

Well actually at 12, the court may or may not believe he is old enough, many of our courts are getting much more liberal now adays esp toward fathers rights.

Most likely joint custody would be granted with each parent getting 50 percent of the time, split in some fashion.
Of course what was suppose to happen, back in 2004 you are to get a child custody agreement with child support set up back then.

So you need to do it now.

I am having a hard time believing that all of a sudden your ex is such a bad person now that you have decided you are going to move closer to your child's school. If he was such a bad person, why did you trust him with your child in the first place? Get a lawyer. I hope you both can put your squabbles aside and do what is best for this child.

People change for the worst sometimes. I trusted him because it is his father. Does that not make sense?