My ex wife and I have been divorced for 8 yrs ( May 2005). We both reside in Michigan. We have a high conflict divorce and we do not agree on much. We have two children ages 10 and 15 yrs old. I had every other weekend from Friday at 6pm until Sunday at 6pm and Thursday evening from 4 to 8pm for my parenting time. I have also had alot of extra parenting time with our kids due to my ex wife traveling out of town for work. We have the right of first refusal in our original divorce agreement and that has not changed. My ex wife kept our same residence that our kids were born into. After our divorce, I bought a new home in 2006 within a mile of her residence. At the time of our divorce we agreed on her having sole physical custody and we have joint legal custody. But, in the last few years, I have been back to court several times to try to get more parenting time with our kids. Finally, in May of 2013, the court gave me additional parenting time which is adding every Wednesday and Thursday overnites to my every other weekends. Also, recently her lawyer ask for a parenting time coordinator to handle all of our parenting time disputes. This motion was granted by the judge and an order was entered. I have always tried to get a week on/ week off parenting schedule and my ex has been against this. Both of us can accomodate this schedule. Our parenting time coordinator is leaning toward a schedule that offers equal or very near equal parenting time. Now, my ex wife has decided to sell her home (which she recently did) and filed a motion for a change in domicile to move about 35-40 miles away and change our kids schools. Our daughter is open to this but our son, who is the 10 yr old, is not. He wants to stay here where all of his lifelong friends are. Both kids are doing great in their present schools and community and always have. If this happened, I would no longer be able to get our kids off to school on Wed and Thurs mornings where they would be going to school. I believe that she is doing this to pull our kids away from me and disrupt my parenting time with them. She has told our kids that she wants to be closer to her boyfriend of 3 years and the schools offer more. What rights do I have that can help me to keep our kids here in their current school system? I believe that I have a strong custodial enviroment in my home established as well. I attend their school conferences and functions. I have coached their sports teams. I participate in their lives in every way and almost everyday.
Answer
You should start by investigating the proposed school district and compare the two. Also, as long as the move is not greater than 100 miles she does not need to seek an order from the court unless there is a provision in your judgment that compels the court's blessing first. I would need much more information to asses the probability of the court blocking the move.
Based on the limited information you have provided one angle could be her desire to "shack-up" with the boyfriend is the primary purpose for the move and not in the best interest of the children. Even if you are unsuccessful in preventing the move you may be able to "tweak" your parenting time to minimize the potential erosion of your bond with the children. Feel free to contact me to discuss in much greater detail.
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