Custody Settlement Agreement.

[NickR1]

Hello,

I am seeking advice regarding a custody settlement agreement.
Here is the situation:

I have a friend (let's call him the "father") and he has two children with a woman we will refer to as the "mother".
They never got married but had these two kids.

They eventually separated and he paid child support through the state (Florida). The children lived with the mother, and the father got regular visitation. They never had any problems with their custody arrangements so they never had to settle anything in court other than child support.

Well, the mother is going to move to North Carolina and is going to take one of the children and become the sole custodial parent. That father is going to stay put here in FL and keep the other child and remain it's sole custodial parent.
The father owes about $11,000 in child support still.

The parents have agreed that once the mother moves, he will not have to continue to pay incurred child support fees since each parent has one child with them.
He will just have to pay until he pays off the owed child support ($11,000).

The mother gave less than a week notice of her plan to move. Therefore, a lawyer could not be hired to create an agreement in time for a reasonable fee.

So I offered to create one based on legal documents I have from within my own past.

Here is what I have come up with. (I have replaced names with {father} and {mother} and censored other sensitive data with ***)

View attachment 48

Please let me know if you think this document will suffice. Both parties have agreed to sign it... but we're just seeking some additional advice.


Thanks in advance.

Also note that both parties have been clearly informed that I am not a lawyer and that this is between them. I am only outlining an agreement for them to change however they wish.

 

[ohiogranny]

That's it? Or is there more to be added? I hope they're going to outline visitation times, places, dates, holidays, who transports (and pays for it), etc, etc...

One sentence bothers me:
The parties acknowledge that either party may wish to and can
relocate without consent from one another.
Do they know what that implies? That one of them can move to the other coast and do a number on the frequency (and cost) of visits. He is complaining now about the short notice, how would he feel if she called and said, "We're moving to Alaska tomorrow"?

Personally, I have a problem with splitting up siblings. How often do they plan to let them see each other? How old are they?

 

[NickR1]

That's it? Or is there more to be added? I hope they're going to outline visitation times, places, dates, holidays, who transports (and pays for it), etc, etc...

Yes, that is it. They wanted it to remain very vague.
There is no visitation or vacation visits planned/scheduled nor is that a concern of theirs. I find that to be very wrong, too. It is not something I would ever do.

One sentence bothers me:
The parties acknowledge that either party may wish to and can
relocate without consent from one another.
Do they know what that implies? That one of them can move to the other coast and do a number on the frequency (and cost) of visits.

That sentence is there because the mother decided to move to North Carolina, so she wanted clearance.

He is complaining now about the short notice, how would he feel if she called and said, "We're moving to Alaska tomorrow"?

The father didn't complain about short notice. And this is basically what she did! Earlier this week she decided she wants to move to NC with one of the children. Hence the short notice and lack of time to arrange this. She is going this weekend.

All in all, I don't think the parents plan on visiting the other children often, or taking part in the others' lives. I have no idea what their deal is about that, but it's not exactly my business or my place to step in and question their decisions.
Like you, I personally have issues with this and I would never imagine doing this with my child or any future children.

Given the circumstances and the parties' desires, the document should appeal more appropriate for the situation.
As I mentioned, they wanted it vague and they just wanted to "get it done".

The children are ages 9 and 12.

I think the original plan was for the mother to take both, but the 12 year old voiced that he does not want to leave. So I guess the parents came up with the plan, "if the father takes one, he will not have to continue to pay child support". I guess that pleases everybody.

As far as separating the children, I find that to be very detrimental and I wouldn't advise it... but it's all in their plan.
The children may not seem to care now, but it is crucial to their development that they grow up together (in my opinion). Otherwise they'll grow up to be strangers.

 

[ohiogranny]

Wow.
Just...wow...

I wonder if the court will accept it.

I personally wouldn't want to help them with this in any way.
I hope they both get those kids lots of counselling.