After my ex and I separated, I ended up moving 1½ hours away out of necessity. For the last 18 months, my ex and I have maintained shared and equal custody of our two 4-year-old children. We've had nothing in writing since we split, due to my ex's reluctance to sign anything out of fear it'll come back and bite her.
I found full-time work and have a decent job with potential. My kids start school shortly. I initially planned to move back near my ex in order to maintain shared and equal custody of my kids. The problem is, I've had no luck finding a comparable job in that area, and don't want to move back there unemployed (I don't want to live off the government, and want to provide for my kids). As much as I hate to not see my children as much as I have, I'm considering staying where I am. For how long, I don't know. Ideally, I'll get promoted and can transfer closer to my kids at some point.
If I go down that path, I expect that I'll only have my kids about 15-20% of the time until I'm able to move closer. If my ex agrees, can we sign an agreement stating that I will re-establish shared and equal custody if I move back?
In other words, does the court write off my rights because of my less-than-equal custody for a period of time, or will they go with what we agree upon in writing instead? Will a judge consider only status quo and disregard our agreement?
I found full-time work and have a decent job with potential. My kids start school shortly. I initially planned to move back near my ex in order to maintain shared and equal custody of my kids. The problem is, I've had no luck finding a comparable job in that area, and don't want to move back there unemployed (I don't want to live off the government, and want to provide for my kids). As much as I hate to not see my children as much as I have, I'm considering staying where I am. For how long, I don't know. Ideally, I'll get promoted and can transfer closer to my kids at some point.
If I go down that path, I expect that I'll only have my kids about 15-20% of the time until I'm able to move closer. If my ex agrees, can we sign an agreement stating that I will re-establish shared and equal custody if I move back?
In other words, does the court write off my rights because of my less-than-equal custody for a period of time, or will they go with what we agree upon in writing instead? Will a judge consider only status quo and disregard our agreement?