Legal Question in Family Law in California
I divorced while living in Columbia South Carolina. My divorce decree allowed for visitation based on our living in the same city. I had every other weekend, every other holiday and so on. The decree allowed my ex-spouse full physical custody with visitation for me and joint legal custody. While living in the same area as my ex-spouse allowed me access to information concerning their day care, doctor visits an so on. When my ex-spouse's employment ended I had agreed to allow my ex-spouse and my children to move to Connecticut, where my ex-spouse's family lived, for assistance. I have since moved to California where my family is and where I presently work. We never officially changed our visitation agreement but adjusted it to simply having my children come to California every summer. I depended on my ex-spouse for updates as to the health, welfare, and school progress of my children. It has been increasingly difficult to gain clear or accurate information from either my ex-spouse or my children directly over the phone or by e-mail over these last few years.
My question is: What are my legal rights as a parent whom has joint legal custody to access information concerning my children's health, welfare, and school progress status through parties directly associated with each institution respectively while maintaining our same living arrangements of them living in Connecticut and myself in California?
Also, would it be beneficial in any way for either/both parties or my children if my ex-spouse and I had a new official decree made up or visitation agreement amendment created based on our present living situation?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Your current rights are under South Carolina law, but if at all similar to California your joint legal custody requires all institutions to provide you with full and complete information and access just as if you were the custodial parent. Should it become necessary, CT courts will enforce the rights you are given under SC law. Probably a better course, however, would be for you and your ex to stipulate in the SC courts to CT courts taking over jurisdiction, transfer the case to CT, and then stipulate to a new visitation agreement that conforms to the new realities. In the alternative you can do the new agreement in SC and then just enforce in CT if need be. The only disadvantage there is that you would have a time lag in getting CT to enforce, whereas if you have already transferred to CT it would be much quicker. If you don't anticipate having problems, however, just a new agreement in SC would be cheaper and easier.
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