Legal Question in Family Law in California

Move-Away

I am a divorced father with shared physical/legal custody in California, currently living in Sacramento. My daughter's mother has just filed a motion to seek court approval to move with our daughter to Truckee,

California, about 80 miles away. She does not have a valid reason for the move (I have details if requested). This is the 2nd time in 15 months she has filed a motion to modify custody. If she moves 80 miles from our residence we will not be able to maintain the current shared parenting plan, as I have our daughter on some school days and take her to/from school.

In our divorce case we spent over $80,000 in attorney fees. I filed bankruptcy last year and cannot afford any further attorney costs. I'm seeking an experienced family law attorney on a pro-bono basis to help me stop this abuse of the CA family court system. Any help appreciated. Thank you.


Asked on 6/15/06, 10:49 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mona Montgomery Mona Montgomery, Attorney at law

Re: Move-Away

Your argument is that the child's welfare will be harmed more by losing his or her close relationship to you than by whatever financial advantages your wife will enjoy by the move. There is no guarantee on this. The court will decide based on the arguments and there is no hard and fast rule. It is a very hard decision for a judge and the judge will be going mostly on emotional reaction to the arguments because the judge will have nothing else to go on.

I hate to see you make this argument yourself for two reasons: One, I think you only have a 50/50 chance of winning and you are going to blame yourself if you lose.

Secondly, you are going to represent yourself poorly because you are very emotionally involved. Noone and I mean NOONE, not the Pope himself, can go before a judge and keep their cool whining about their child. You really need a lawyer.

Check around. You don't need a big money lawyer, but expect to pay $500.00 for an appearance and even then, my friend, do not expect to win. This is a wobbler.

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Answered on 6/16/06, 5:16 pm


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