It can be very difficult sharing custody of a child with an ex-spouse, but it is easy to make it work when you're both living near each other. However, the situation becomes much more complicated when your ex-spouse wants to move far away. It can majorly disrupt the custody agreement, making things very complicated for everyone involved.
There are three possible outcomes that can happen. It's possible that the court will not allow the custody agreement to be modified, keeping things in your court with retaining custody. Your ex-spouse may ask you to agree to modify the existing agreement as well. A disagreement about custody could result in taking the battle to court and letting a judge decide for you. Here is what you should do if you have an ex-spouse looking to modify your custody agreement due to an upcoming move.
Meet With A Lawyer
The very first thing you'll want to do is meet with a lawyer. Your ex will be looking to legally modify the custody agreement if they want to retain custody, and you need professional help to learn your options. A child custody attorney will let you know what your chances are of modifying custody in your favor during each potential outcome.
Find Some Common Ground
Chances are that you do want the father or mother of your children to be involved in their life, but the reality of them moving far away will make things difficult. It is best to find some common ground with your ex-spouse to come up with a new arrangement. Come up with a solution that works in the interest of the children and the parents, and can work for everything involved.
Try proposing that you should have primary custody of the children to disrupt their lives as little as possible, but arrange for longer visitations to the other parent during the year. You could try to schedule these around breaks during the school year, summer, and holidays.
Consider Moving
If it is likely that your spouse will get to retain primary custody of your children, consider moving to be where your children will be living. It can be a challenge to change jobs, but if your only option is to not see your children, know that there are ways to make it work.
Fight It In Court
When all else fails, take your case to court and fight for what you believe is best for your kids. Since your lawyer is already involved, they'll have all the information they need to help fight your case for you.
Share14 March 2019
Divorce is never an easy situation. For fathers, it can be even more stressful because it is more difficult to obtain custody of the kids. Having gone through a divorce myself, I learned quite a bit about the additional steps that fathers should go through to ensure that they have a fair chance at gaining custody of the kids. My site is filled with the tips and advice that I received from my lawyer and other fathers that have gone through the same thing. Hopefully, what you learn on my site will help you achieve the outcome that you hope for.
