Child Custody

questions & answers

Question: My wife and i are soon to be separated, she is from Canada and i feel she will try to take take the kids there there. She has a long history of alcohol and drug use and is recently out of rehab. What are my rights

Answer: In order to stop or have some say in the relocation on you children you must have been granted the right to custody or parenting time. Usually when parents are seeking a legal separation or divorce, custody is also determined. If the parents cannot agree or about child custody, it automatically becomes an issue for the court to decide. The court decisions are made in temporary orders hearings and in final trial if the parties are unable to reach an agreement.

Once you gain some sort of custody or parenting time under A.R.S. § 25-408, subsection B, states that there must be at least a sixty days’ advance written notice provide to the other parent before a parent may relocate the child outside of the state or relocate the child more than 100 miles within the state. However if the court has already granted permission for the relocation, or if there was previous written agreement within the last year concerning that relocation this rule will not apply. A.R.S. § 25-408 also provides different rules for when an how a parent may take a child out of state on a temporary basis, including pressing needs such as health, safety or employment of the parent.

 
http://www.azlawhelp.org/viewquestions.cfm?mc=1&sc=1&qid=106
http://www.azlawhelp.org/articles_info.cfm?sc=11&mc=1&articleid=68
http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ars/25/00408.htm