Don’t Unilaterally Relocate Your Children out of Florida – Create a Relocation Agreement
When you are divorced in Florida and you are the primary residential parent to a child and your ex-spouse has visitation rights, relocating your child to a new principal residence more than 50 miles away from your previous residence has many implications for you and every other person entitled to visitation with your child. Failure to comply may lead to adverse results. Take, for example, this scenario:
You have been divorced for 3 years, you have a minor child, and you are the primary residential parent by court designation. Since the divorce, you have lived in the same house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but now you feel it’s time to move. Whether moving for a new job, a new location, or a better investment opportunity, you have decided to pick up and move you and your child to northern Florida. How do you go about relocating with your child without running afoul of the law? One of the most efficient ways of handling relocation is crafting a relocation agreement with the secondary residential parent.
Create a relocation agreement. The primary residential parent, and the secondary residential parent may enter into a written agreement before moving more than 50 miles away. However, the agreement must: (1) consent to the relocation; (2) define visitation rights for the non-relocating parent; and (3) describe any transportation arrangements that may be necessary for proper visitation. If you have an existing court order that relates to the child’s primary residence or visitation, you must seek ratification of the agreement by court order, which will evaluate the best interest of the child. Furthermore, a relocation agreement may address the added cost to the non-relocating secondary residential parent for travel expenses related to visitation with the child.
While there are other avenues to follow when relocating more than 50 miles from Fort Lauderdale, or any other Florida town, a relocation agreement may be the best method for resolving a potentially thorny matter.
For more information about relocation agreements, or if you need assistance drafting one, please contact an attorney.
