Q: I don’t ask for child support , is it reasonable to ask my sons mom to cover the travel cost for his visits to her.
My ex wife and I shared 50/50 custody of our 13-year old son. She has moved from California where we both live to Ohio. He is staying with me during school and she gets him multiple times throughout the year. (This has just happened this month so she has not had him yet). I am not asking for any sort of financial support, but think she should cover the travel cost because she chose to move and will not have any further financial obligations. Because i asked for this she is now threatening to take me to court. Am I being reasonable? Also, being that my son is 13 would they give her custody if that’s what he said he wanted? She’s stating she’s just going to go for custody then and that it’s what he wants (he has never expressed this to my wife and I).
A:
You have multiple options and I think only you can make the ultimate decision. The first would be to not do anything drastic and allow for the term "status quo" to set in and get through to the point where you enroll your son into school here in California and get the strong roots set in here to be able to combat anything your ex wife would try to use to her advantage in a move away case. The second option would be to file for custody, visitation orders, child support and deal with the cost of travel so that you can get ahead of her in the filing status and get your version of events and facts before the judge first. She will still have to file a move away case and deal with proving that the move would be in your child's best interest. This is a tough area of law and you should think about talking to a lawyer to get further insight into the situation.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
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