Custody and visitation can be complex, especially if you have joint custody of the children. Your parenting plan can make traveling much easier if you outline in the agreement when each parent is permitted to cross state lines, or travel in general.
If your parenting plan does not specifically outline this situation, you might need to ask the other parent for permission to travel. Each case is unique, and you should speak with a family attorney to help you resolve any restrictions or issues regarding traveling out of state with your children.
Let’s assume that you and your ex don’t have a parenting plan that details a process for taking trips out of the state. You should first ask the other parent if it’s okay for you to travel with the kids.
If the other parent agrees, you should get their permission in writing to avoid any issues. If the parent doesn’t agree, but they don’t have good reason, you do have some options if you still want to travel with the kids.
The first thing you can do is petition the court to allow you to take the kids out of state. As long as there’s no real reason why you shouldn’t take them, the judge will likely grant your request.
Additionally, you can avoid some hassle if your travel time takes place during your allotted parenting time. If it falls outside of that time, you might have a little more difficulty getting a travel request approved.
You could also reach out to a lawyer to see about modifying your child custody agreement so that travel issues don’t come up again in future.
Child custody issues can be stressful, but you can usually resolve them when you have a solid family lawyer on your team. Sometimes, the other parent can be unreasonable, and the only way to get what you want is to fight for it.
For help getting a travel request granted or modifying a custody agreement, contact The Law Office of Laurence J. Brock. A child custody lawyer can be reached by visiting our website and completing the contact form you’ll find there, or you can call our office at 909-466-7661.
