Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: I'm moving and my 13 yr. old son & I want to change existing custody orders

If there is an agreement between you and the other parent of the child, that can be prepared and the current order modified based on your agreement. There is not standard court form for that agreement. If there is no agreement you could be in for a court battle. As the child wants to live with you, you have a leg up, but it is not unusual for a 13 year old to tell his parents what the parent want to hear and he could be telling the other parent he wants to live with him. The first step is to talk to the other parent and see if you can work out an agreement. Since you are the party moving you may have to be prepared to do most of the transporting of the child. If there is no agreement be prepared for a court battle. Start early, move away proceedings can take a long time. Good Luck, Pat McCrary

Re: I'm moving and my 13 yr. old son & I want to change existing custody orders

You can always file an OSC yourself but that would be like performing surgery on yourself as well! I always recommend retaining an attorney on issues such as this. You are looking at a custody battle here. In a 50-50 situation neither side has an advantage when modifying current custody orders. If the other party opposes this change, there are many issues that can come up. You could potentially lose!! Child support is also a major factor in this battle.

In any case if you are located in Southern California and would like a free telephone consultation give me a call at 818-998-1584