My ex and I were never married, we do not have a court established custodial plan, and we have one child together that he sees 2 nights a we...

Question

My ex and I were never married, we do not have a court established custodial plan, and we have one child together that he sees 2 nights a week. My ex is currently unemployed and has plead no contest to felony domestic and sexual abuse charges stemming from an incident in which he pointed a gun at my head, he is still on felony probation. My husband and I have one child together and another due in a month, we have both received job offers out of state and informed my ex of our intent to move 4 months ago. Today I received a summons to a hearing for this Friday, "Former Husband's Verified Emergency Motion for Injunctive Relief Regarding Parental Relocation". The summons states that I informed my ex of the intent to move on April 2nd when in fact I told him about the move and the date months ago. The move is only temporary for a period of 5 months and then we will move back to Florida. I already agreed that during the time we will be residing out of state I will bring our son back to see him for a total of 40 days, split in to two three week segments so that he will receive the same amount of visitation, just in larger blocks of time. What information should I be prepared with to present at the hearing so that my husband and I are not forced to split up our family or lose our jobs because of my ex's vindictive nature? My husband and I do not have criminal records, and I am currently enrolled in nursing school online attempting to better myself for my children.

Answer

I would advise that you meet with an attorney who can ask more specific questions and review the document that he has filed.

You cannot properly prepare for an hearing with the information provided in this forum.

As the mother of a child born out of wedlock you are the legal guardian and can make sole decisions regarding the child including relocating unless there has been a custody decision or unless one is pending.

In the event the court treats the pending matter as a pending custody issue then you need to be prepared to explain the necessity for the move (with documentation and supporting evidence) and the fact that it is temporary.

The court will consider his criminal record and violence against you but be mindful that the fact that you have allowed twice nightly visitation may be a counter argument in his favor.

I would strongly urge that you seek legal assistance to present your case.

Answer

I would be prepared to present all the information you provided as well as the evidence concerning the job and your schooling. Also present the evidence of ex felony charges and history of domestic violence. It is very hard to fully tell you everything without more information. You will need to contact legal counsel asap so you can find out everything you need to do. If do know one you can contact your legal bar association. Best wishes and Good luck.