aparenti
New Member
- Jurisdiction
- California
I just failed to prevent my ex from moving out of CA with our 5 year old daughter to Ohio and I'm completely distraught. Before this, we shared 50-50 custody for about 2 years under a temporary order. The judge based his decision primarily on some poor past parenting choices I made, and even though he acknowledged that I had improved my parenting, he questioned my motivation. This seems really unfair but I know that it falls under his discretion.
If you look at La Musga, nearly all of the factors supported my position in keeping my daughter here. In his temporary ruling, the judge said that La Musga "does not directly apply" because we only had temporary orders, but I don't believe that is a correct legal argument.
What makes this especially difficult for me is that the mother is unstable and uncooperative. She moved out of her apartment assuming that the decision would be made immediately after the trial was over and now she is shipping our daughter from one sublet to another. She is planning to move into her mom's house in Ohio, currently makes about $1000/month, and has no immediate job prospects. My daughter also just started kindergarten. The judge ordered that she be able to move to Ohio during winter break but I'm concerned about the impact of moving her in the middle of the school year just as she's getting used to a new school.
From my understanding, my options at this point are a Motion for Reconsideration or an Appeal.
If I filed a Motion for Reconsideration, I would focus on the legal argument that a move at this time would "threaten the welfare of the child" based on what I've seen since the trial. Since my daughter started Kindergarten, she's gotten a note from her teacher about her difficulties with writing exercises and I'm starting to look into having her assessed for a learning disability. Moving would also interrupt her occupational therapy. I've also sent several communications to my ex about discussing ways that we can make this transition easier for our daughter and she refuses to have those conversations with me. I don't know if this is worth attempting.
I've read enough appeals to know that I would be very likely to overturn the ruling on an abuse of discretion but I could still try. I'm also wondering about the likelihood that I would be able to stay the move away if I appealed. Even if I lost, that would give me more time to prepare for the move.
Looking for any thoughts or advice.
If you look at La Musga, nearly all of the factors supported my position in keeping my daughter here. In his temporary ruling, the judge said that La Musga "does not directly apply" because we only had temporary orders, but I don't believe that is a correct legal argument.
What makes this especially difficult for me is that the mother is unstable and uncooperative. She moved out of her apartment assuming that the decision would be made immediately after the trial was over and now she is shipping our daughter from one sublet to another. She is planning to move into her mom's house in Ohio, currently makes about $1000/month, and has no immediate job prospects. My daughter also just started kindergarten. The judge ordered that she be able to move to Ohio during winter break but I'm concerned about the impact of moving her in the middle of the school year just as she's getting used to a new school.
From my understanding, my options at this point are a Motion for Reconsideration or an Appeal.
If I filed a Motion for Reconsideration, I would focus on the legal argument that a move at this time would "threaten the welfare of the child" based on what I've seen since the trial. Since my daughter started Kindergarten, she's gotten a note from her teacher about her difficulties with writing exercises and I'm starting to look into having her assessed for a learning disability. Moving would also interrupt her occupational therapy. I've also sent several communications to my ex about discussing ways that we can make this transition easier for our daughter and she refuses to have those conversations with me. I don't know if this is worth attempting.
I've read enough appeals to know that I would be very likely to overturn the ruling on an abuse of discretion but I could still try. I'm also wondering about the likelihood that I would be able to stay the move away if I appealed. Even if I lost, that would give me more time to prepare for the move.
Looking for any thoughts or advice.
