Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Can I relocate?

I filed for limited divorce in MD back in Jan of this year. My ex has moved back to his home state of CO in June. We have a 3 year old son. I do not have any family or friends in here in MD. I was a stay at home mom, and have not been able to establish a job here until matters are resolved, that would justify day care costs of two children. I need to move back to FL to be near my folks for assistance on many levels. Can I do this? Can I keep the case here in MD until matters are resolved, so that they have jurisdiction in this matter? My ex is a controling manipulator, tells two different courts, two different stories, purjury beyond belief, has a girlfriend now that he's exposing our son too also on his visits to see his dad in CO, and my son will ask to speak to her on the phone and not want to speak to me! My ex also expects me to meet him in St. Louis for pick ups and drop off's, which has turned out to be 14-16 hour drives for me over a weekend! Financially it's a hardship for me, wear & tear on my vehicle, most dangerous city in US, winter weather of concern... Do I HAVE to meet him? How do I deal with him on this matter? I've been trying to work to keep his son a part of his life, but he made the choice to go.


Asked on 11/04/06, 3:07 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Sher Wagshal and Sher

Re: Can I relocate?

You can relocate, but if the case has been pending for 10 months, you should have a trial date scheduled by now. If so, it would probably make sense to wait until after the trial, since you'll have to come back anyway for that. As for your other questions, you must obey any court orders that have been entered dealing with visitation and support, which I assume the father has been paying. If the transportation situation for visitation was not contemplated when visitation was established, you could file a motion asking the court to modify the order to require the father to foot the costs of visitation, since it's he who left the area. If there is no order in place, or the order doesn't spell out the transportation arrangement, I would tell him that if wants visitation he'll have to pay for it.

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Answered on 11/06/06, 9:52 am


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