A Child Custody Attorney Can Help With Your Military Divorce and Relocation

If you are in the military, working with a child custody attorney is important. Military divorces are more complicated than civilian divorces simply because active duty military members move on a regular basis and are often deployed overseas.  When children are involved, it becomes more complicated since orders can impact the service member and their kids.If you are already divorced, and receive orders to move to a new base, you are legally not allowed to pick up your kids and go without your exes consent. Relocating children requires a mutual agreement or going to court.  This presents a complicated issue because an ex-spouse will often try to fight the move while the military may not be so understanding if you don’t show up.A child custody attorney can help you to navigate through the process.  In order to relocate, you will have to submit a formal request for relocation with the court.  We will then need to prepare your case for why you should be allowed to relocate and take the kids with you.  The judge will evaluate the merits by examining the current custody arrangement, the age of the children, their bond with the other parent and family members and whether or not this is in their best interest.If you are the ex-spouse of an active duty service member, you may want to fight the move and have every right to do so.  This is where the complications arise.  If both parents are working, each is required to go where their job is. For one parent, that means staying put while for the other it means moving to a new base.  The judge will have to make the ultimate decision on where the children live.Even if the judge determines that the kids stay in one place during the school year, that doesn’t mean that custody is lost.  The other parent can still request to have the children on the summer and during school breaks.  While the time is not evenly split this does not eliminate the parental rights or responsibility of the other parent.  As a child custody attorney, we work to make sure that it is as fair and equitable as possible with children seeing each parent as much as they canIf your divorce isn’t finalized yet, these same issues apply.  When someone is in the military, and a divorcing spouse wants to move, the spouse that is moving must file for relocation.  They must present an equally compelling argument for why they should be able to move with the children and the judge will analyze the same set of parameters to determine if it is in the best interest of the kids to do so.  This is not one sided for or against a particular parent, but rather an opportunity for each parent to make their case as to what they believe is beset for the kids.  Working with a child custody attorney is extremely important in these types of cases since the future of you and your children is up for negotiation.