Relocation: Essential Steps and Factors to Consider
I’m Tulsa divorce attorney, Palmer Johnson, and this is my video series where I address frequently asked family law questions I get from my clients. Today’s question is about relocation. Can I move with my child without permission of the other parent? And the short answer to that question is, again, like most things, it depends. But there are some things that you need to do to protect yourself if you are relocating and some things that you need to consider as well.
I think the first big overarching thing is, why are you relocating? Is there a truly compelling reason for it? Because it can’t be solely to be further away from the other parent, making visitation harder. That would be a reason that a court could conceivably reverse custody if they find that the other party has not moved in what they would call good faith.
Steps to Take When Relocating
So you live in Tulsa and you get laid off from your job, let’s say, and you look for jobs in Tulsa. You also then, you’re not finding anything that is in the right pay range, so you expand your search a bit and you end up getting a great job in Oklahoma City that pays you $40,000 more a year than you were making, and you want to move to Oklahoma City. So what should you do?
I would say, I think that you’ve met the test for good faith or compelling that you’re doing this because of a circumstance that you didn’t create, and you have found an opportunity that was not available in this market after exploring that and have chosen to take this. As soon as you possibly can, provide the other parent with notice in writing of your intention to move, your new address, and any proposed changes that this move would cause to the visitation arrangements and what you propose to do to deal with it.
Protecting Your Rights in Relocation Cases
It needs to be in writing. You need to keep a copy of it so that you can document what you’ve done because the statute really governs exactly how you do this. The biggest mistake you could make is just to move, not tell them, or move and then tell them. People tend to get upset about that. So like most things, the statute just encourages communication, and the protection for the left behind parent is that if the other parent does not have a reason to do what they’re doing other than to prevent you from seeing your children, you potentially would have a reasonable argument as to why the child should not move with them.
Contact Us for More Information
If you are considering relocating with your child and you’ve got questions about that or perhaps maybe you received a notice of relocation and want to object to that, you can contact me at moms.law and schedule a low-cost personal consultation. Call 918-770-7117 to speak with me today.