Legal Question in Family Law in Maine

Re: child wants to move in with other parent

Your question isn't answerable with the limited information. Yes it is possible to get changes in primary residence. Your son's input will be heard and if based on important and meaningful reasons it will be taken into account.

Maine uses the "best interest of the child standard as required by the statutes and the Court. Many times a court will want to appoint (at your expense) a guardian ad-litem (an independant person with experience in investigating these issues) to help advise the court. The court will also listen to witnesses and see if it is in the best interest of the child to make the move. Some of the factors the court will look at is how the child is doing in school, Will the move take the child away from freinds and a good shool system. How is the move going to affect the child emotionally, has the parent who wants the child shown the appropriate amount of attention and provided the necessry emotional support to the child all along, are there other siblings at the child's home, etc. If the child actually has requested the move, without input from you, and the reasons are good ones, you probably have a shot.

If the other parent fights the move it can also be a costly and time consuming process. If you would like to discuss this to get an idea of your chances, please contact me.