In Alabama, the change of principal residence of a minor child may be ordered in a temporary order or final judgment in a divorce. Alabama courts will considerany and all factors affecting a child’s well-being prior to ordering a change of principal residence.
Impact on Child’s Relationship with Non-Relocating Person(s)
Changing from one residence to another will likely affect a child’s relationship with the non-custodial person. However, non-custodial persons are not the only individuals affected by this change. A child may be separated from siblings, cousins, friends, and others involved in the child’s life. Courts consider the following factors that may impact a child’s relationship with non-relocating persons:
- Nature of the child’s relationship with the person seeking relocation.
- Impact on child’s relationship with the non-relocating person, siblings, and other individuals involved in the child’s life.
- Required travel time to allow non-relocating person to comply with visitation arrangements.
- Availability and cost of communication between the child and the non-relocating person.
- Ability to make arrangements that will not interrupt the child’s relationship with the non-relocating person or create an inconvenience or financial burden for either person.
Child’s Needs
During a child’s lifetime, he/she developments certain habits and becomes accustomed to certain surroundings. Relocating to a different residence will likely have a negative impact of the child while he/she adjusts. For that reason, courts want to ensure a child’s needs are met. Courts consider the following:
- Impact a change of residence will have on the child physically and emotionally.
- Affect on the child’s educational development.
- Child’s preference to reside with the relocating or non-relocating person; however, the child’s age and level of maturity determine if relocation is granted based on preference.
- Affect of uprooting the child from the principal residence and relocating to a new residence.
Encouragement of Child’s Relationship
Divorces are difficult for everyone affected by a couple’s separation. However, children are most affected because they go from seeing both persons regularly to seeing them at scheduled times. Adhering to visitation schedules and promoting a child’s relationship with the other person is essential to the emotional changes a child endures during a divorce. To ensure the custodial and non-relocating person will promote the child’s relationship with the other person, courts closely examine:
- Past compliance with custody and visitation rights.
- Ability of each person to encourage a healthy relationship between the child and the other person.
- Likelihood that custodial person will comply with joint visitation arrangements and promote joint parenting arrangements if the child is moved to another jurisdiction.
- Probability that relocation will provide financial, emotional, and/or educational benefits for both the child and custodial person.
Proposed New Residence
A custodial person may meet all of a court’s requirements individually; however, the proposed new residence is vital to a child’s emotional development and adjustment to new surroundings. Courts may not award a change of custody if the new residence:
- Is in a foreign country that does not enforce visitation rights, lacking an adequate legal system, and presents risk of harm to the child.
- Lacks a support system to ensure the child will be cared for if an unexpected emergency arises or the custodial person unexpectedly becomes disabled.
Other Factors
Other material factors vital to granting a change of principal residence include, but are not limited to the:
- Stability of the family unit.
- Reason both persons feel the child should reside with him/her.
- Existence of recent or past domestic violence or child abuse in the current or proposed residence.
A detailed listing of Alabama's Change of Custody statute can be found here.
