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Seeking Relocation May Be in The Best Interests of Child

Law Office of Kari Holm Fawcett

It is entirely possible for two parents to love their child but not necessarily be in love with each other. Families have a lot of different dynamics these days, and in order for child-rearing to go smoothly, a child custody arrangement need be in place to ensure everyone knows what to expect. What about when a parent with physical custody thinking about relocation? Relocating a child in a child custody arrangement may be in their best interest.

Child custody arrangements often have limitations about where the primary physical custody parent can reside in relation to a child and their other parent. This is to ensure that parents with joint custody can realistically meet the obligations of their child custody agreement and do so in a way that doesn’t put too much stress on the child. However, an opportunity or a family circumstance may have the physical custody parent thinking about moving or relocating. How would one go about putting this change into motion?

The first thing to know is that custodial parents aren’t often allowed to move outside of a certain range of an area without consulting the child custody agreement. Therefore, people should have a general understanding of whether their relocation is within the constraints of the original agreement. If it isn’t, then one should have a very good reason for relocation, which many do. It may even be in the best interests of the child for reasons of health and wellness, a school or activity opportunity or something else that nurtures a child’s ability to learn and grow.

Determining if relocation is in the best interests of your child is tough to know without knowing the specifics of the situation. It’s possible that even if the move is in the best interests of the child that one parent in the child custody arrangement could still be opposed. This may be due to how it would affect them and their ability to connect with their child. However, even if puts hardship on one parent, it still very well could be in the best interests of the child.