Q: What rights do I have as the mother and primary custodial parent if the dad moves 5 hours away. Never been married.
We have never been married and have lived with my parents for 4 years. My son included in the last 3. I am the mother and primary custodial parent. We have a court order in place which allows our son to see his dad every other weekend without allowing overnights. His dad moved 5 hours away with less than 1 months notice. That's 5 hours to get there and 5 hours to travel back home. He has been in and out of the picture this whole time. His name is on our sons birth certificate. But I want to have sole custody or at least be able to move states if at all possible. I am unsure of the rights I have.
A:
First of all, a sit-down consultation with a good family law attorney would answer all of your questions. Lots of factors go into a child custody decision, especially when one parent relocates. It will be worth your time and money to get yourself informed, and an office consultation is always much better than just a few lines of text here on a computer screen.
Second, it sounds like your best bet may be to do nothing unless and until Father insists on enforcing the present custody order. You're right about a five-hour travel time (each way!) being unworkable, and the custody order should be modified to reflect the new geographic reality of the parents . . . but asking a court to do so could also open the door to Father requesting overnights in light of the travel distance. If you don't want that, then don't open that door just yet.
Best of luck to you.
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