If you have shared custody of your children with an ex or a former partner, it means you both have a right to see the children. Many people will share their children on an alternating weekly schedule, for example, or the children may spend weeks at one home and weekends at another.
But none of this would be possible if you moved too far away to make those transfers. Does this mean that you are not allowed to move at all until your children are 18?
There are potential reasons to move
It doesn’t mean you can’t move, but it does mean that the court may get involved if they think that doing so would violate the other person’s rights. For instance, if they believe that you are only moving because you want to make sure that your ex can’t see the kids anymore, then you may be prohibited from doing so.
On the other hand, perhaps you were offered a job in another state that is going to pay you more money. Or maybe you want to find a better standard of living for you and your children, so you’re looking for new places to live. Perhaps you want to further your education so that you can move up in your career, and you need to move to attend a school that you recently got into.
All of these are examples of good faith reasons to move, and the court may allow you to do so if you can demonstrate them. However, it is important to make sure you don’t simply move without addressing the legal side of it first, or you may accidentally violate your ex’s rights and put your own custody arrangement in jeopardy.
All told, just be sure you know exactly what legal steps to take to make sure that this process goes smoothly.