Custodial Relocation

A child often suffers when the custodial parent unilaterally decides to relocate.  Psychological studies have proven that a stable home life is of utmost importance to a child's emotional well-being.  Our attorneys have significant experience in relocation cases, whether representing the parent seeking to relocate, or the parent opposing the custodial parent’s intention to relocate.

It is clear that children whose divorced parents live within close proximity to each other are better able to integrate spending time with both parents.  Courts have the authority to either grant or prohibit the custodial parent’s intended relocation.  It is essential to have an attorney with sufficient experience and expertise in relocation matters so that a successful outcome can be obtained.

Aunts, uncles, grandparents, and siblings may also have legal rights towards a child who has been under their care for an extended time.  A court may recognize your rights over those of the parents if you have substantial proof of your claim and the court determines it is in the best interests of the child to remain with the non-parental custodian.

For advice about your legal options, contact our offices today. We can provide the legal representation you need to succeed in your custodial relocation dispute.

Case study: Father seeks to prevent custodial relocation

In this post-divorce case, the mother and father lived within 10 miles of each other. The mother had custody, while the father enjoyed regular visitation with his daughter and was an active participant in his daughter’s educational and extracurricular life. The mother remarried, and sought the right to relocate with the child to California due to an employment opportunity offered to her new spouse. Despite the economic benefits which would be provided to the daughter by the relocation, in representing the father we successfully demonstrated to the Court that the child’s best interests were better served not by monetary factors, but by her remaining in close proximity with her father, whose love, devotion and guidance were essential to her well being. The Court denied the mother’s request to relocate to California.

Case study: Aunt seeks custody of niece

An interesting case involved a mother who had moved to Seattle for five years, leaving her then seven year old daughter in the care of the daughter’s aunt in Queens. The mother returned to New York with the intention of bringing her daughter back to Seattle to live. The daughter, now 12 years of age, wanted to continue to live with the aunt in Queens. The aunt retained us to obtain custody of the child for her. Litigated in Family Court, we demonstrated that inasmuch as all the child’s friends lived in New York and her schooling had always been in New York, her interests were best served by her continuing to reside with the aunt, rather than relocating to Seattle. We obtained custody for the aunt, and the child was therefore able to continue living in New York.

Serving the following geographic regions in New York:
Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Westchester and Nassau County