One of the most difficult things that parents might have to do when they have gone through a divorce is to move out of the area. This brings up the possibility of having one parent who is going to have a long-distance relationship with their children. Whether you are the custodial parent or not, you have to think carefully about the situation.
We know that you likely have a good reason to move. This might be for a job or to be closer to family members. Make sure that you clearly express the reason for the move to the other parent so they know that you aren’t moving just to make a difficult situation even more complex.
If you’re the parent who has custody of the children, you will need to get approval to move the kids out of the area. You will have to show that the move is in the children’s best interests. This might not be a huge deal if your ex agrees with the move, but you might face some resistance if they don’t agree.
When you are certain that the move will happen, you need to prepare the children. They need to understand that they will still get to see both parents but that they just won’t have as much in-person time with the parent who isn’t with them full time. It might help to explain that you use things like online video chats to keep in touch. You can have terms for these virtual visits placed in the parenting plan.
We realize that this isn’t going to be easy. We can work with you to come up with a custody agreement that puts the children first and sets them up to thrive.