Legal Question in Family Law in California
Good day- We are looking for guidance on how to handle a custody issue. Currently, we reside in California, and due to economic difficulties, we are relocating to Arizona in 2011.
~We currently reside in California
~We are relocated to Arizona (2011) due to economic difficulties
~My husband has children from his previous marriage (divorce decree states 50/50 custody/support)
~We currently have all the children 60/40
~Their mother does not want them full time because it "cramps her lifestyle & needs her own time"
~~~~~ (while we reside here in California)
~We would like to bring the kids with us, and are willing to schedule a "shared" custody plan
~We offered 70/30 (the kids are with us 70%) (which is 10% more than our current schedule)
~We offered 30/70 (the kids are w/ their mother 70%)
~She wants 100% custody and wants full child support
She has been threatening us for Child Support for years, but is unable to collect from us, since we make $25-30k less annually than she does and she is unwilling to have the children more.
Her goal is to keep us here, so we can continue with the current 60/40 plan. I have been providing child care for the children for years now and she does not contribute to any of the fuel costs (sports, taking children to three different schools each morning and pick up each afternoon), increased food costs, etc....
The older children want to relocate with us, and the youngest, who is 12, wants to stay with their mother, and we respect that. We dont want to force the children to do something they dont want or are not comfortable with.
Currently, we do not ask for Child Support nor would we request it if we have the children full time out of state. We are trying to keep this from impacting the children, but she is doing everything in her powers to alienate us from the children and include them in every "aggresive" discussion, including by telling the children that "their father is abandoning them".
We are loving, supporting and encouraging parents. Our children are always first.
In California, the courts try to keep the children together and encourage the parents to live close, which we understand, but we can not afford to live here anymore.
Because we are relocating, do we have to give up our parental rights as parents with regards to custody?
Can a parent refuse another parent custody right because they have relocated to a different state?
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
1 Answer from Attorneys
You will likely need an attorney before this is all over, since it does not appear that she is going to work this out peaceably. Be prepared, however, to pay all of the additional costs associated with exercising visitation for both parties as a result of the move.
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