Legal Question in Family Law in Michigan

When a parent requests to move farther than the 100 miles, or whatever distance is identified in the Judgment of Divorce, they must demonstrate to the court the reasons why, i.e., new job/employment, better for the children, will not hinder the relationship with the other parent, willingness to pay for extra travel costs for the children to see the other parent, etc. Whether or not the Judge will grant her request depends on her reasons, the actual distance (are we talking 150 miles, or 2,000 miles), and your position on the matter. Because she has full physical custody, this may alter the judge's decision - and it depends on why she has full physical custody, as this is much less common than it was 10 years ago. If you rarely see the children anyways, the Judge is much more likely to grant her request. There are several other factors that the court considers when deciding a parent's request to move away from the other parent. If you don't want this to happen, and she is wanting to move very far from you, wherein it would be difficult to see your children on a regular basis, then you should petition the court to prevent her from moving, or oppose her request for permission to move. Look at your Judgment of Divorce and see if she is required to ask the court's permission before moving - she may not be. Based on your question, it sounds like the Judgment does contain language regarding the 100 miles. But, if it says nothing about it, the default rule is that she must ask permission if she wants to move more than 150 miles.

An attorney cannot tell you the "odds" of a court granting her request without knowing the full background including, most importantly, why you don't have full custody, what the current parenting time schedule is and whether you comply with it, how often you see the children, how involved you are in their lives (school, activities, religion, holidays, family trips, etc).

I'd strongly suggest you retain a lawyer if you want to maximize the chances of her request being denied, because once it's granted, and you've exhausted any appeals, then she moves. You can't later petition the court to have her move closer to you. Good luck.