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What Happens When One Parent Moves Out of State?
By Steven Pradell
Alaska is a remote place. Often families relocate here as a result of military and job transfers, or because one spouse has an urge to live in the last frontier. Later, another job transfer occurs or a parent may find that living in a northern climate so far from family and friends is too much to bear. A parent's decision to leave Alaska undermines the ability of both parents to have continuous and equal contact with the children and forces parents or the court to choose which of the parents will enjoy primary physical custody of children. This article examines this troubling issue.
For married parents who know before a divorce occurs that one spouse will relocate at the time of the divorce or soon thereafter, the court can consider this issue in advance and make specific findings about what will occur in the best interests of the children when a parent relocates. Parents who resolve their marriages through the process of dissolution can put specific language into their agreement which tells the court what will happen if either parent later moves out of state. Coming up with a solution to this issue in advance may avoid costly litigation in the future.
What happens when parents already have a custody and visitation order in place which does not include any provisions concerning an out of state move by one parent? Generally, in order to ask a court to take another look at a custody award, a parent seeking modification must first prove that the circumstances have changed since the prior order was entered. For changes to custody, a substantial change of circumstances must be shown. The Alaska Supreme Court has stated that if a parent moves outside of Alaska, this change constitutes a substantial change of circumstances. As a result, a court will normally hold a hearing so that it can next determine whether to change custody and/or visitation and fashion another order which is in the best interests of the children.
An Alaska Supreme Court decision held that where one parent has moved to a distant locale, a six month alternating physical custody arrangement disrupts the stability of a young child's life and is not in the children's best interests absent compelling evidence to the contrary. Therefore, it is likely that one parent will spend the majority of time with the children and that the other parent will have visitation on a schedule set by the court. While there are no such schedules written in Alaska law, ordinarily the court attempts to give the non-custodial parent as much visitation as possible during the summer and school holidays, depending on the specific facts of each case.
Other issues that the court needs to consider include whether the parents will share legal custody or if one parent will have sole legal custody, how to allocate transportation costs, whether the children will fly unaccompanied or with an escort, how contact between the children and the parents will occur, and how the non-custodial parent will obtain important information about the child. Once custody and visitation changes, the court may also need to recalculate child support.
It may be wise to consult with an attorney who can answer your questions regarding changing an existing custody, visitation or support order, and explain the options available to you. Many attorneys will consult with potential clients to answer your questions and define the services they offer. It is often important to consult with a lawyer at the start of the process in order to make preliminary decisions regarding how to proceed.
This article is not intended to provide legal advice and should not be relied on for that purpose.
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