Centrally located in Burton, Michigan – Servicing all surrounding areas
At the Law Office of Patrick L. Chatterton, we care about you and your family. We help individuals and families in Flint, Burton, Genesee County, and throughout the surrounding areas of Mid-Michigan. We can help file a motion for change of domicile and negotiate a settlement to let you and your children move out of state.
Consultations are confidential and private.
If you and your children have a custody order through the Michigan court system, in most cases, you will need to file a Motion for Change of Domicile before taking your kids out of state (or more than 100 miles away). In deciding whether to grant these motions, Michigan family court judges apply the following Michigan Change of Domicile Factors:
Whether the legal residence change has the capacity to improve the quality of life for both the child and the relocating parent.
The extent to which the parent opposing the legal residence change is motivated by a desire to secure a financial advantage with respect to a support obligation.
Domestic violence, regardless of whether the violence was directed against or witnessed by the child.
The degree to which each parent has complied with, and utilized his or her time under, a court order governing parenting time with the child, and whether the parent’s plan to change the child’s legal residence is inspired by that parent’s desire to defeat or frustrate the parenting time schedule.
The degree to which the court is satisfied that, if the court permits the legal residence change, it is possible to order a modification of the parenting time schedule and other arrangements governing the child’s schedule in a manner that can provide an adequate basis for preserving and fostering the parental relationship between the child and each parent; and whether each parent is likely to comply with the modification.
Often, most of the testimony in a change of domicile action relates to whether the move has the capacity to improve the child and relocating parent’s quality of life. This improvement can take many different forms:
The focus of this factor is on both the child and the relocating parent, though many courts prioritize the child’s interests over the parent. If you are the one getting the benefit, you’ll need to show how it will spill over to help your children have a better life.
Every parent should follow their custody and parenting time orders, but this is even more important if you need to move out of state. You need to show the court that you are willing and able to do the work to transport your children to see their other parent for their court-ordered parenting time and will facilitate contact between the child and their non-custodial parent throughout the school year. If your co-parent does not have a good history of exercising parenting time, you should expect the non-custodial parent to claim you are moving to cut off his or her access to the children. Be ready to show how they have opted out of their court-ordered parenting time, so the move doesn’t look like obstruction.
One of the best things you can do in a motion for change of domicile is lay out a fair parenting time schedule that protects your children’s relationship with their other parent. When the distance between parents’ homes prevents weekly or biweekly parenting time, it is up to the moving parent to create a plan to maintain the parent-child relationship. Most often, this is done through extended holidays and school breaks. However, you can also include long weekends, visitation in the new state (if the other parent will travel), and frequent phone or video contacts in between visits to keep the relationship strong.
It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes a parent will object to a motion for change of domicile primarily based on the increased cost of child support. If you expect this to be an issue, consider ways to offset the costs such as increasing overnights or agreeing to pay for transportation costs.
When a change of domicile motion happens early in a divorce case, it is sometimes because the relocating parent is trying to escape a domestic violence situation and move closer to his or her support network. If that is true in your case, especially if the violence was directed at or occurred in front of your children, you can justify the move as a protective act designed to give your children the safety and stability they haven’t had at home.
The court doesn’t need to weigh in on a parent’s motion for change of domicile if the other parent consents to the move. One of the best ways to avoid a court battle is to attend mediation with your co-parent to find a new parenting time solution that will protect both parents’ relationship with the child. Reaching a mediated settlement can let you move faster, protecting your job offer, school enrollment period, or lease agreement. It will also give you more control over when and how your children will spend time with their other parent.
Call us at (810) 767-0407 or toll-free at (855) 4CHATLAW
