Often, when a couple in Arizona is getting a divorce, many questions come up that revolve around the children, including custody, support, and visitation. Other divorce issues can include continuing to provide for the children’s health insurance, education (including saving for college), and questions surrounding religious instruction, particularly when parents are from different faiths. One troublesome area, which sometimes comes up during a divorce, and sometimes post-divorce, is when one parent wishes, or needs, to relocate to another city, state, or even country.
This is especially prevalent when one or both spouses are originally from a different hometown. Other times, relocation is the result of a job transfer or the need to move to obtain new employment after a job loss or in pursuit of a better opportunity. If the parent seeking to relocate is the custodial parent, this raises all kinds of issues of how the noncustodial parent can maintain strong ties to their children and involvement in their children’s lives, and how visitation will be handled, given the time and economic issues that surround travel.
Often, a court will be more concerned with the best interests of the child than the need of a custodial parent to be closer to their other family and friends–their support system–following a divorce, or to pursue better career opportunities. On the other hand, a better support system for the parent, or more money in the household can also be beneficial for the child, so this can be argued either way.
Courts examining a proposed relocation involving a child will want to see if the move will result in the child being minimally impacted. Separation from the non-custodial child is also a factor to consider. Experienced divorce attorneys are used to dealing with all the tricky aspects of relocation issues during and after a divorce, from the perspective of either the custodial or non-custodial parent.
Source: The Huffington Post, “6 Things to Expect and Consider When Relocating with Children After Divorce” Andrea Moore, Dec. 18, 2013
