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My husband has sole physical custody and joint legal custody of his children. We want to move from Michigan to Florida.
Anonymous9 views4 answers
I am transferring positions with my current employer to Florida. The children have lived with us since 2012. Their mother lives one and half hours away currently. In 2014, she had the children 28 overnights and so far in 2015 she has had them 8, she always makes excuses why she is unable to get them. At first she said she was okay that they move, now she says she does not want them to move and my husband has filed a motion for change of domicile which is scheduled before a referee. What are the chances of us being able to move the children and how should we prepare for the hearing.
Change of domicile motions are not always granted. Kent County judges will actually schedule a hearing for both parties to testify regarding several factors. To determine if you will be successful depends on factors such current school district vs proposed school, proposed change in housing and neighborhood, change in family's income, cost of living, etc. The judge will also want to hear a proposal for future parenting time. Because you can file such a motion only once, you really should retain an attorney. You cannot reverse bad testimony and a bad ruling.
Get an attorney at once. Make sure you have information on where you move, demographics, cost of living comparison, schools, worship houses, colleges, airports nearby, and mostly, your reason to moving away and adding this extra burden to the other parent. Do not discuss or show emotions about this in front of the children, not good for them and not good for your case. If the children are of sufficient age and capacity they will be asked and make sure you have not done some parent alienation and turned your children against the ex-spouse. The Social Workers and attorneys can smell it a mile away.
Your husband's court documents (assuming a Judgment of Divorce) provide that the domicile or residence of the children may not be removed from the State of Michigan without the prior approval of the court and/or consent of the other party, either of which should be reduced to a court order. If your husband has sole legal AND sole physical custody, he'd still have to seek obtain an order authorizing the move, but the court would grant the request (based on (SOLE LEGAL/PHYSICAL custody). Certainly many more facts are necessary to properly evaluate your inquiry.
Change of domicile requests are granted if the court is satisfied that certain legal bases are proven, The decision of the court is discretionary. The legal bases are not able to be addressed in a forum of this nature and that is why you should engage the services of an experienced and knowledgeable family law attorney in your community, of which there are many. With more information, a family law attorney will be able to provide an opinion on the likelihood of prevailing.
