Legal Question in Family Law in California
exercise custody without child support payments?
My husband and I are leaving,
military resaons, to the other side of
the country. He is harboring our 15
year old daughter who does not want
to leave the area because of a
boyfriend and school. He has rights
to her, originally, but has not paid
child support in two years. Also, he
cannot pay for his living expenses
much less hers: lunch money,
clothing, health care, anything. We
want to pick her up and move but
want to be in our legal right. What
are our options?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: exercise custody without child support payments?
That 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. Also, it appears that you live in San Diego County where we have several new judges with no track record on move-aways. You are best to talk with 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 and can tell you that many no one should give you a straight yes or no answer to the question, but they 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. Move quickly on this. Call me and we can get this started this week.
Good Luck, Pat McCrary