My ex and I were divorced in the State of Texas. At the time of the divorce, I was living in California with my folks and she was living in Dallas. I have since moved to Oregon and she to Missouri. She currently doesn't work and is living off my 'spousal maintenance', which goes on for another 9 months. Between the 'spousal maintenance' and child support (which I gladly pay... they are, after all, my kids and I want the best for them), it takes up about half of my check. The first time the kids came to visit me, my ex required that I fly there, pick them up and fly back. She covered the cost of my ticket and I covered the cost of their tickets. Now, spring break is coming up. She insists that I travel out there to pick them up again, but this time she is unwilling to drive > 1 hour from her home in Missouri (which means a small airport) and she is unwilling to pay my flight out there. This makes the trip prohibitively expensive. Our divorce agreement only states the dates of the visitation, not who will pay for what costs. Can she do this, or should I go get a lawyer to amend the divorce decree to include who pays for what costs when traveling?

How old are the kids? Generally, the NCP pays travel costs if the decree doesn't specify.

They are 7 and 8. I am fine with paying for the flights, but not for the requirement of driving less than 1 hour from her semi-remote house and not fine with the requirement that I fly out, pick them up and fly back with them (meaning 4 round trip tickets to a small airport instead of 2).

At 7 & 8 they should be able to travel on their own under unaccompanied children program. So you pay for a car service to pick then up and take then to the airport and turn them over to the airlines.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

How old are the kids? Generally, the NCP pays travel costs if the decree doesn't specify.

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This isn't exactly true as a general rule. The general rule is the move away parent pays the cost of the flight. But in this case both parent have moved away from the positions of the first agreement. It makes it more complicated.

If the custodial parent were the one moving away from the original location and the NCP had remained. Then the custodial parent should pay the charges to facilitate visitation.

In a case like this since both moved away then its possible the courts may consider a 50/50 split. With both parents paying.

Actually it is now time to go back to court to clarify who pays, since both parents have moved, there may be a joint cost but they should be able to travel solo with the airlines program

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

actually it is now time to go back to court to clarify who pays, since both parents have moved, there may be a joint cost but they should be able to travel solo with the airlines program

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Yes, and if one or the other parent is uncomfortable with unaccompanied minor travel, he or she should pay for the extra cost of going with the kids.