Legal Question in Family Law in New Mexico

Re: moving out of state child custody

In a word, yes. The next question is "can he give you a hard time and make life difficult?" In a word, yes.

By law, the last state that a child lived in for six months is considered the home state of the child (See, Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act). If the other parent, in this case dad, wants to have visitation with his daughter and you are making that visitation difficult for him then he could go to court and ask the court to make a parenting plan that would define visitation with the child by each parent. If he goes to court before you have been living on the east coast for 6 months then the court in NM could still have jurisdiction over the child. I say 'could' because there are lots of other considerations in this area that are best discussed with an attorney.

This area of law is filled with lots of rules and considerations. I urge you to speak with an attorney in your town (or that big city next door) and look at and consider all of your options under the law. Then, when you have good sound legal advice you will be in a much better position to make an informed decision.

Good luck.