Q: Shared legal custody and separate state parents. Daughter wants to move with father.
I have shared legal custody with my child’s mother. She lives in Ohio and I live in Pennsylvania. She is the custodial parent for school purposes as that is what we agreed upon initially during our original custody case when she was 5. My daughter is now 12 and wishes to move out here to Pennsylvania and voices concerns about her current family life in Ohio and how she enjoys being with her family here. Wiil a judge grant this and is it worth petitioning to change the custody order? She has voiced mental health challenges with living at home and has expressed this to a school counselor as she has regular sessions.
A: This is a very fact specific question. It is possible, given your daughter's age, that a court would lend more weight to her wishes. However, she's been established in Ohio for seven years. A court is going to be hesitant to upend her like that especially if she is doing well academically in Ohio.
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