Q&A

I have been divorced for 12 years my x husband, and I have both remarried, We both live in NYS. I have always had residential custody with the sharing of joint custody. Our two girls are now 13 and 16. Due to job circumstances, my X husband will be moving to the country of Mexico, My 13-year-old has been enticed by her father and stepmother and is now contemplating moving with them. I don’t have an issue with her moving in with them here but going to another unsafe I might add country is out of the question, Is there anything I can do to stop him I hear mixed views. What are the laws in New York, and do I have a leg to stand on to keep my child within an appropriate distance to see her often or stop it altogether?

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I am the sole custodial parent of one child, age 11, and have resided in the same small apartment in NYC since before I was married. The non-custodial parent has been permitted only supervised visits for the past eight years. Also, of having no parental role in our child’s life, the non-custodial parent missed over 400 visits ( recently not having any contact with our child for two years straight), although resumed 1x weekly-90 minute supervised visits for the past four months. I was laid off a year and 1/2 ago, along with my new wife (lost her job five months ago), and have not found enough work in the metropolitan area to support our meager lifestyle. We are unable to support ourselves despite collecting unemployment, which will run out this coming fall. My job search expanded out of state in North Carolina, where I have some family, which has resulted in several legitimate opportunities for work in my field. Of course, I believe relocating to this area would be beneficial to our child with the obvious availability of less expensive housing (versus our apartment dwelling), schooling (after school activities currently not available in the city), to name a few. With the lack of relationship with the non-custodial parent, I am interested to know if the court would consider permitting this move so that I may begin to interview for these offers before losing my unemployment benefits? Also, the non-custodial parent owes over $80K in child support and child care, which has been a significant financial burden to my household.
Sincerely, NY parent

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My husband and I were married in Massachusetts. He is from Virginia, and I am from Massachusetts. We have a four-year-old and four months old. I am a stay at home mother, and he travels approx 75% of the year and is hardly ever home. He has become emotionally abusive, and I am planning to get a divorce. We have been in NY for almost two years, and we own a home here- under my husband only. I would like to move ASAP back to MA. To go back to work as a single mother of 2, I need the help of family (we have no family in NY). Is this possible? What would I need to do?

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I am married with children and living in New York State. Can my wife take my children out of state and not tell me where they are? Is she allowed to take them on trips if I am not comfortable with the destination and do not want them to go? I have been told that I have no rights in this matter. Is there a resource that can tell me what my rights as a father are? Thank you.

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Hi, my husband and I have been married for ten years in New York state. About eight years ago, my stepdaughter’s mother dropped my stepdaughter off for visitation and never returned. We tried to force her to be active in her life by taking her to court. She asked the judge if she could give up her rights, and he denied it. Child support has been deducting money directly out of her paycheck, but she still has not made any contact with her other than that. In the custody papers, it says joint custody with my husband as her primary caretaker. We have an excellent opportunity to move to Kentucky for my husband’s job transfer. My stepdaughter is now 16 years old and wants to go with us. If her mother does find out, can she take legal action? She has had no contact in 8 years. Can a 16-year old make that decision? We don’t want to go to court and open a can of worms and have her fight it, just for the sake of giving us a hard time. Thanks for your time

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I have been divorced for about one year, and we have one son. We share 50:50 visitation primary residence at my home. In our memorandum of understanding (2008), it states we will keep our son in the current school district in our town of Springville, NY.unless discussed and agreed otherwise. My current place of employment requires me to drive 30 minutes to work and 45 minutes in the winter. I want to move out of the school district, but I am concerned my son’s father will disagree 100%. Our son has special needs and has an Individual Education Plan and receives resource room help during his school day. Other than that, he functions quite well. He does struggle academically, and I am concerned his father will argue this move will disrupt his life. I have no intention of denying his father access to his son, and I was wondering what the law allows me to do in this matter

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My divorce agreement dictates with a mileage restriction that I cannot move out of Long Island. I have been unable to find a job for 11 months. We have had to move three times in 8 months. I have a job offer in NJ. It is only 80 miles from home, and I would be amenable to sharing travel responsibilities. I am very worried about our future if I do not accept this position, and considering it is not much farther than the agreement, and my ex has a neglect charge in the past, would a judge allow me to move my son if my ex takes me to court?

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My ex and I have two children that we share joint custody. We both live in the same apartment complex, and I see my children daily. I am the parent who is primary in my children’s education ( keeping up on homework and involved 100%) My The kids have been in the school district for their entire education so far, and now my ex wants to move because she ” wants to move away from me”…My children are upset and do not want to move. What can I do? I have been a substantial role model in their lives since birth and don’t know how I can be away from them.

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My girlfriend lives in Staten Island with her two children, ages 7 and 8. She would like to move in with me in NJ, approximately 30-35 miles from where she currently resides. Her divorce states that she can move up to 50 miles away. Her ex-husband, who takes the children every other weekend and every Wednesday, inconsistently at best, vows to make our lives miserable. Can he prevent her from moving 35 miles away? Additionally, how can she log the missed visits with their father that is allowable by the courts? She is not looking to stop the visitation, just document when they don’t take place. Thanks

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