Relocation can be a difficult objective to obtain. While the law does not state this explicitly, the real life facts can make it such. This article seeks to show this.
Let's say that Rick and Diane got married in 1995. Two years later they had one child, Dan. Rick and Diane's marriage was never very great. They argued constantly, and part of the reason was that they came from very different backgrounds. Rick was born outside Lafayette, Louisiana to Cajun ancestry whose relatives had never gotten a divorce. He grew up in the bayous of southern Louisiana, killing alligators and noodling for catfish. Diane was born to a very well-to-do family in New Orleans. Diane and Rick met one night in a bar in Houma, and after hitting it off, they decided to get married very quickly. From 1995 to 1997, they lived in a lake house that Rick owned outside of Houma. Soon after Dan was born, Diane got fed up living in the rural bayou environment. She told Rick that they needed to move back to New Orleans where she could be closer to her family. Also, Diane wanted to go to law school in New Orleans.
Rick obstinately refused. He felt slighted and condescended to when Diane made the suggestion. He told her that she could leave and divorce him if she wanted to, but that he was staying in Houma. He also told her that he was going to keep Dan, and raise him according to the Cajun way of life.
Diane was furious, but rather than arguing she just left. She moved back in with her family in New Orleans and enrolled in law school. She and Rick never got a divorce. Diane did make a point to go back to Houma every now and then to check in on her son. Other than on these visits, she and Rick barely spoke.
By 2010, Diane has since graduated from law school and been admitted to the Louisiana bar. After becoming a lawyer, Diane decided to formalize her split from Rick by petitioning a court for a divorce. In addition, Diane petitioned to make herself the custodial parent of Dan.
Not surprisingly, Rick fights this petition tooth and nail. Dan is now fifteen years old, and he has had a long and happy life growing up on the bayou with his dad. The idea that Diane can sweep in with her big-city lawyer talk and steal his son from him is enraging. Because the two cannot agree, they are forced to appear before a Louisiana court.
One of the things that a court will likely consider is the length of time and the history of a child in their current living situation. They may even ask the child for their preference of custodial parent, if the child is old enough to express that opinion. Here, in our example, Dan obviously has an extensive and felicitous history in his home in Houma. Removing him to New Orleans to be with his mother in New Orleans would arguably cause his psyche a great deal of harm. While it is impossible to say for certain, a Louisiana court would likely consider Dan's history of domicile, as well as his own wishes to remain in Houma, to be determinative of who should be awarded custody. (One side note is that Diane did not need to file divorce in order to get custody and/or visitation.)
The above is purely informational and not legal advice. Will Beaumont. New Orleans.
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