Q: Can I move out of state to be near family?
I've had sole legal / physical custody since dec 18 2017. Ex hb is allowed 8 hours a week 2 hours each visit of professional supervised visitation. In over two years hes not made any attempt to see our daughter. We want to move to Colorado to where she can be close to my family. Her grandma aunts uncles . She talks to him in text maybe once a month when she initiates it. Hes an alcoholic
he had been arrested and convicted both in 2016and 2017
The DA has a protective order on our daughter against him until the end of 2020. Theirs not any sort of established relationship between my daughter and her dad and she has expressed to him several times she wants to move. Can I move out of state?
A:
The short answer is "probably." Having sole legal and physical custody gives you the right to move, but it is inadvisable to just up and do so. You want to go about it the right way so it doesn't cause you grief in the future. A "move away" which these types of cases are called, requires you give reasonable notice and a plan for him to retain the same timeshare, as near as logistically possible, with his child.
The fact pattern you describe makes it seem ludicrous that you would be denied the right to move; but I have always found the best way to go about it is to file an RFO to get the court's permission for the move, even though it would seem a foregone conclusion that you have their blessings.
Going about it this way saves him showing up months down the road and filing something to have you move back or increase his already insubstantial visitation based on the move.
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