Albuquerque Divorce Lawyer Blog

What happens when one a parent wants to move out of state, or even to another city within New Mexico? Relocation of one of the parents often has significant consequences for child custody and timesharing.

Relocation of a parent outside of New Mexico, or even within New Mexico, can be a very difficult situation for parents who may have to choose between job or family obligations and being close to their child. It can be an even more difficult situation for a child who is faced with leaving their school and their friends and the possibility of seeing one parent much less frequently than they did before the move.

Both the federal and state constitutions protect the right of citizens to travel and move freely about the county, but while a parent has the right to move, they do not necessarily have the right to take their child with them. Where there is an existing parenting plan setting forth custody and timesharing, a parent who wants to move must file a motion to modify the parenting plan and timesharing agreement as soon as they know they will be moving. A relocating parent should understand that New Mexico will maintain jurisdiction over child custody and timesharing despite the move.

If parents have split, but have never established a formal parenting plan, it is a good idea to get a parenting plan entered by the court prior to moving. In cases where there is no parenting plan, the parent who is not relocating would be very wise to file a Motion with a Temporary Domestic Order to prevent the other parent from taking the child out of state and thereby escaping New Mexico jurisdiction over child custody and timesharing.

When a parent must move suddenly, they should still file a motion to modify timesharing before they leave and either travel back for the hearing or ask the court if they can appear at the hearing via telephone. The relocating parent should be prepared for a long and frustrating process. He or she should also understand that the Court may not look favorably on the relocation for purposes of establishing child custody and timesharing

As with all custody decisions, the court's primary consideration in evaluating a modification of a parenting plan to accommodate a parent's move is the "best interests" of the child or children involved. If one parent has sole legal and physical custody, then the court will most likely find that it is in the best interest of a child to remain with that parent. In a situation where the parents share custody, but one parent wants to move with the child, the court will have to determine whether it is in the best interests of the child to stay in New Mexico or to leave with the relocating parent.

That determination rests heavily on the parent's reason for moving and how much of a disruption the move will cause for the child. The court will consider all of the child's circumstances such as family bonds, friendships, schools, sports, extracurricular activities among other issues. Most importantly, the court will look to see how the move will affect the child's relationship with the other parent. The court will almost always deny a parent's request to move with the child if that request is made as a bad faith attempt to prevent contact between the child and the other parent. Finally, if the change in the parenting plan, custody and timesharing is contested, the case will be referred to family court clinic for a full custody evaluation. This can take months and it rarely moves faster for the convenience of either party.

If a court does grant one parent the right to move with the child, the court will need to devise a new visitation schedule that accommodates the new distance between a child and parents. This can be expensive as parents will now need to pay for travel costs to facilitate visitation and can be very difficult when a child is too young to travel alone. The constraints of time, distance and a child's school schedule are only a few of the factors to be considered when one parent wants to move, which is why it is important that each parent consult an attorney if they are faced with such a potential change to custody and timesharing.

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The essential component of a Domestic Violence Order of Protection under the New Mexico Family Violence Protection Act is the issuance of a restraining order prohibiting the restrained party from having any contact with the protected party/alleged victim. However, when the restrained party and the protected party have children together the domestic violence hearing officer can also issue short-term decisions regarding child custody, timesharing and child support. In Albuquerque, Rio Rancho and Santa Fe, the hearing officer will often refer the parties to the court clinic or family court services in order to evaluate custody and advise the court as to what is in the best interest of the children involved in the domestic violence case. The result is often a temporary parenting plan, the duration of which will depend upon the future behavior of the parties.

Albuquerque, Rio Rancho and Santa Fe each have a variety of court clinic and/or family court services for addressing child custody and time-sharing issues. These offices are staffed by trained psychologists, therapists and social workers who are often called court clinicians. The purpose of a court clinician is to help the judges and hearing officers make custody determinations by conducting an investigation into a child's living situation. This investigation, often referred to as a child custody evaluation, includes interviews of the parents, the child (if the child is old enough) and others involved in the child's daily life such as grandparents, teachers, doctors, counselors and even coaches.

Sometimes a hearing officer will ask a court clinician to appear at a hearing on an Order of Protection on very short notice for an on-call child custody evaluation. This is typically the case in custody matters related to domestic violence actions. In these situations, the hearing officer will call a recess from the hearing in order to allow the on-call clinician to speak to all of the parties present and make a child custody and timesharing recommendation that is in the child's best interest. If the on-call clinician determines that more investigation needs to be done they may ask the hearing officer to order a priority consultation which a more thorough but expedited custody evaluation. However, the on-call clinician will make interim recommendations based upon preliminary findings that will stand pending the priority consultation

A priority consultation is a more in-depth evaluation by the court clinician and will usually be held sometime after the domestic violence hearing. It may include interviewing others in the child's life not present in court at the domestic violence hearing and reviewing any relevant documentation about the parents' or the child's mental health. If the court clinician feels like still more investigation is needed, there may be a request that the hearing officer or the judge order that the parties participate in an advisory consultation, which often requires all the parties involved to undergo psychological testing and may span a period months, often many months due to the heavy caseload in the court clinic.

At the end of an on-call, priority or advisory consultation, the court clinician will make recommendations to the hearing officer or judge as to what the parties' timesharing arrangement should be. Each party has ten (10) days to object to the recommendations issued by the court clinician. If no objections are filed within the 10 day time period, the recommendations are adopted as an order of the Court.

A hearing on an Order of Protection can have lasting effects on a restrained party's liberty and their right to see their children, which make is extremely important that you consult an attorney if a Petition for Order of Protection is filed against you. Every case is unique and requires individual analysis to protect both your interests and the interests of your children. No matter which side you are on, it is typically inadvisable to attend these hearings without a New Mexico divorce and family law attorney.

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The law in New Mexico is very protective of parental rights. On occasions, the mother or father of a child who has been absent from the child's life for an extended period of time, many times for years, will show up wanting time-sharing with the child. On some occasions, the long lost parent will even demand custody.

In New Mexico, both parents have an ongoing right to visitation and time-sharing until the child is eighteen, even if one parent has chosen not to exercise that visitation for years. However, just because a parent has the right to time-sharing does not mean that a parent who has not had any meaningful contact with their child for months, or years, has the right to show up at your door and demand to take the child for the weekend. It certainly does not allow for a change in custody to accommodate the absent parent's whims.

The first step in such a situation is always for the parents to try to reach a parenting plan that creates a time-sharing agreement that they are both comfortable with. If the parents can't come to an agreement, then either party can petition the court for an order establishing custody and time-sharing through a parenting plan. In cases of extended absences of a parent, an agreement is frequently impossible for numerous reasons not the least of which is the resistance of the child who may not even know the newly arrived parent.

The parenting plan established by the Court will provide the details of time-sharing if any. If the parents cannot reach an agreement, the Court will enter a parenting plan, often temporary in nature, with the assistance of Family Court Clinic or a private expert custody evaluator.

In the Second Judicial District in Albuquerque, cases involving contested child custody will often be sent to Court Clinic where a number of counselors and/or psychologists will conduct a full custodial evaluation. The Court Clinic's primary role, as is the role of the Court, is to determine the best interests of the child. The court through Court Clinic recommendations may also order that the parents work with an outside therapist or appoint a guardian ad litem to help the parties devise an appropriate time-sharing schedule.

In evaluating a time-sharing schedule and parenting plan, the court will always look to the best interests of the child. In determining what is in a child's best interest, the court looks at a variety of factors, including the child's age, their relationship with both parents and the child's current living situation, which is also called the status quo. As children grow older, particularly when they reach age 12, they have more and more input into the process. Once children reach 14 years of age, the Court will except in exceptional situations defer to the child's wishes.

There are many considerations that go into the determination of time-sharing in a case like this. It may be that the newly arrived parent will get only limited time-sharing. In rare cases, the parent will get no time-sharing such as when the child has reached age 14 and simply refuses time-sharing with the long lost parent. Each case is unique requiring a great deal of time and work to achieve a result.

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In the recent case of Vescio v. Wolf, the New Mexico Court of Appeals discussed the issue of third-party child custody, which refers to a situation in which a person other than a child's mother or father seeks custody of that child. In Vescio, a child's aunt filed a petition for custody and timesharing against the child's mother and grandmother, who had been appointed the kinship guardian of the child (the child's father was not involved with the child's life or this case).

The aunt initially based her petition on alleged abuse of the child by the mother and grandmother, however, the New Mexico Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD) found the allegations of abuse to be unsubstantiated. The district court dismissed the aunt's petition because she lacked standing to seek custody under the regular child custody statutes.

In the Vescio opinion, the Court of Appeals listed five primary situations in which a third-party may be awarded child custody in New Mexico: 1) when extraordinary circumstances exist and there is no other adequate remedy available; 2) during an action for dissolution of marriage; 3) when a parent or guardian for the child dies, the court can award custody to a third-party under the Probate Code; 4) when there has been a finding of abuse and neglect by CYFD; and 5) when a third-party files a petition for custody under the Kinship Guardianship Act.

The Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of the aunt's petition because it did not properly fall within any of the situations listed above. However, the Court ruled that the aunt would have standing to file a motion to revoke the grandmother's guardianship under the Kinship Guardianship Act.

If you are a third-party thinking about seeking custody of a child, this case illustrates that importance of consulting with an attorney in order to ensure that you use the proper body of law as a basis for your claim.

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