[grammie52]

My son and his ex-wife have joint legal custody, she has physical custody of their 5 yr old child. They all currently live in GA. We have heard that she is planning on moving to North Carolina. Can she move the child out of state since they share joint legal custody? Without going back to court? She keeps saying she has the final say because the papers state if there are conflicts on decisions for the child the parent with physical custody has the final decision. Would she still be bound to the visitation schedule and be required to have the child at the appointed child exchange location every other weekend?
Thank you for your help.

[ScottGem]

Would she still be bound to the visitation schedule and be required to have the child at the appointed child exchange location every other weekend?

That's the crux of the issue. If there is a court ordered visitation schedule in place then she CANNOT move without the court's permission. Yes she can have the final decision in a question of rearing the child, but she cannot change anything about the court order.

So, yes she would be required to have the child at the exchange location according to the visitation order. If she can do that then she would get permission to move. But she would have to seek that permission from the court by promising to continue to adhere to the visitation schedule.

[grammie52]

Thanks for your reply. That is what I thought, but I'm just a grandmother and sometimes we see what we want to see. Order states specific exchange location and times, guess if she moves to NC she will have to spend every other Friday and the following Sunday driving. Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

[ScottGem]

I would suggest your son inform his attorney about her stated plans to move. It may be necessary for the court to issue a warning that such a move would violate the visitation agreement.