Relocation to Lessen Contact with a Non-Custodial Parent

Regardless of whether the custodial parent has legitimate reasons to relocate, the Court may still consider whether the move is designed to lessen contact with the non-custodial parent.

In the unpublished opinion of the Matter of Oliver & Gaines the Second District Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s order denying Mother’s request for a move-away to Texas because despite the reasons for the move-away, the Mother intended to frustrate contact with Father.

Marriage of LaMusga (2004) 32 Cal.4th 1072 set forth various factors courts must balance in order to determine whether a custodial parent’s move-away is in the child’s best interests. One of the factors is the reason for the proposed move.

The trial court denied Mother’s motion because her intentions to frustrate visitation were transparent. First, the request for move-away came close in time to the Father’s first unsupervised visitation. Second, she orchestrated many strategies to avoid sharing the child with Father. Third, if the child were moved to Texas, Mother would use loopholes to obstruct visitation. Finally, Father’s limited means would force him to give up on visitation as he did with another daughter who moved away.

On appeal, the Second District found that the trial court properly balanced the factors in LaMusga and Family Code §3011. The Court added that Mother’s evasive testimony contributed to the notion that her motives for moving away were not pure. Despite the positive reasons for moving to Texas, the trial court could have properly found that Mother intended to block Father’s visitation, which was not in the child’s best interest.

The non-custodial parent may believe that he or she has no recourse to stop the custodial parent from moving away. Yet, courts must consider the Family Code’s goal of frequent and continuing contact with both parents. The Orange County family lawyers at Wilkinson and Finkbeiner, LLP is experienced in intrastate and interstate move-away cases and where the motive of the moving party is to frustrate contact between the child and other parent.