Legal Question in Family Law in California
Child custody
I have Sole physical custody of my 5 year old daughter and joint legal custody. Ever since she was born she was with me, I was never married to the father. When she was 2 years old I got married to someone in Active Duty Military, When my daughter was 4 We had to move out of CA (her birth state) to WA, all of the sudden the biological father wanted ''rights'' I was in a tight bind and I didnt want to go through a long legal battle so we settled for joint legal custody and he has visitation. My question is can I take her out of the country to live for a couple of years? My husband (whom my daughter knows as her daddy) was just told we will be stationed in Greece in just a few months. I live in WA state so for me to have to go back to CA for a legal process would be very costly and out of my way. Like i said I have sole physical custody but her biological father has visitation rights of a certain amount of days a year. Do I need his permission to have her move to Greece for my husbands military orders? My husband is our provider and he claims her on taxes and everything. I have no choice in the move but we cant leave our little girl behind either. That would be crazy. Any advice? Please help. Thank You.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Child custody
If your daughter has lived in WA for 6 months you could register your residential plan (or custody order) with the WA courts, and then work on the issues here. I believe that CA has enacted a version of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (WA has enacted a version of it). You then could handle the relocation in the county you are currently residing in. This procedure for both steps is relatively simple, but requires precise execution to fulfill the procedural requirements. Under WA law, the transfer of the parenting plan requires a response from the non-residential parent within 20 days or waives their right to object. The relocation requires filing and serving the notice 60 days prior to the relocation and the non-residential parent must reply within 30 days or waive their right to object. If you would like to read an article on the subject of relocation, visit: http://www.steuartlaw.com/Child_Relocation_Under_Parenting_Plans.pdf
Re: Child custody
You would not necessarily need to return to California for the motion, if you have an attorney. The strong probability is that your motion will be granted, however, You should not move out of the country without obtaining permission of the court first, or
permission of the father. Whether a court would allow you to move is a difficult question to answer since there are many factors that go into a judges decision to allow a parent to move away from the other parent. You are best to retain an attorney who handles child custody matters who can go over all of the factors and the tendencies of the judges in your county. I recently taught a seminar to attorney's on move away requests in the El Cajon court and can tell you that no one should give you a straight yes or no answer to the question, but an experienced attorney can give you some good direction and preparation for the requests. . This motion could take months to resolve since father will have a right to an evidenciary hearing, that is a trial rather than a simple hearing. Good Luck, Pat McCrary
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