Urgent: Can A Wife Re-locate Children To A Different State Though No Separation/divorce Has Occurred ?

Q: Wife appears to be given job offer to be head of an elementary school in PA. Family live in NY. She has made the ultimatum, if she gets the job, she has paying job, and school for the children to attend, plus she can live with her parents until …whenever. Husband is not necessarily unemployed, but employed on commission only and had his own business, but lost significant dollars in it. He has not made/earned any income this year but has savings. He lost significant money the last 2.5 years. If she gets the job, school ends on Friday for the weekend, she will know by tomorrow night, and then she would take the children on break and not return them – could husband still demand the children return after the break even if she takes the job. Of note, young children really love both parents very much and so do the parents. The distance of re-location is 2.5-3 hrs away. Father said tonight he would get an order to stop her and she went ballistic on him – and said good luck – citing all of the above reasons, why at an hearing, the children’s best interests would be with her – of course, this would lead to a divorce most definitely.

A: David’s Answer: The mother in this case would be well-advised not to remove the children without court permission. She would take the substantial risk that the Judge would order the children returned to the jurisdiction pending trial (which may be at least several months, if not a year or more, away). Either party should immediately call a NYC Child Custody attorney to schedule a consult for a full assessment. – David Bliven, Bronx Child Custody Attorney, (www.blivenlaw.net)