IF YOU WANT TO RELOCATE WITH A CHILD AFTER A DIVORCE THERE IS A JUPITER DIVORCE LAWYER WHO CAN HELP ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS
If you are divorced and you need to relocate with your child, what do you do when there is a restriction in the Final Judgment which limits the distance in which you may move? As DIVORCE ATTORNEYS IN JUPITER FLORIDA this is a question we frequently answer.
In Tucker the parties entered into an agreement which contained a common provision:
Relocation:
If the parent that the child lives with the majority of the time intends to relocate more than 50 miles from the present home, the parent must obtain permission in writing from the non-residential parent or obtain a prior Court Order of Approval.
This is similar to the relocation language used in Florida Statute 61.13001:“Relocation” means a change in the location of the principal residence of a parent or other person from his or her principal place of residence at the time of the last order establishing or modifying time-sharing, or at the time of filing the pending action to establish or modify time-sharing. The change of location must be at least 50 miles from that residence.
In many cases we have a situation where a client wanted to move to a location that was within 50 miles measured in a straight line, but required more than 50 miles of driving. It seems to make sense that driving the driving distance should be the measure, however the court did not agree –
The 5th district court stated that, “the general rule is that distance should be measured along the shortest straight line, on a horizontal plane and not along the course of a highway or along the usual traveled way.” The court quoted another case for support: “To suggest that the distance should be calculated by some circuitous pedestrian route would be a tortuous reading of the statute that would violate its plain intent and meaning.”
The key to this issue is to be very specific in your agreements. If you want to measure by driving distance, specify that way of measuring distance, If there is a relocation petition filed in the future, you won’t have to spend a year or more arguing over how to measure the distance if a parent wants to relocate in Florida.
If you have any question regarding this or any other legal matter our firm may be able to help you. Please contact Jupiter Legal Advocates at (561) 748-8000 or email us at [email protected] for further information and assistance. We try our very best to respond immediately.
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JUPITER LEGAL ADVOCATES
561 748-8000 or email us at:
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