Fort Lauderdale Rights Of Out-Of-State Parents
Even if you reside in a different state from your child, a lawyer can protect your legal rights as a parent. Whether you are seeking permission to relocate, desire to prevent a relocation, or if you simply need a child custody plan to accommodate for long-distance time share commonly referred to as visitation, the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Law Office of Rebekah Brown-Wiseman, P.A., has experience in obtaining court-ordered child custody schedules. For long-distance visitation, custody schedules need to provide you with the right to see your children on a regular basis and account for long-distance travel. Out-of-state parents typically obtain more visitations with their children during school breaks and summer vacation to help facilitate their statutory right to a close and continuing relationship with their children.
Two different state courts cannot simultaneously have jurisdiction to order a child custody schedule with visitation provisions. If your child’s other parent files a child custody case in a different state from where you reside, you may be able to dismiss the case on the ground that the court does not have proper jurisdiction. To ensure that the proper state’s court has jurisdiction over your children, an affidavit referred to as the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act Affidavit (UCCJEA) is required in all child custody matters. This affidavit discloses your children’s names, dates and places of birth, the residences where your children have resided for the past five years, the identity of all individuals who had physical custody of your child or claim to have child custody or visitation rights to your children, and all previous and existing cases involving child custody or child support for your children.
As an out-of state parent, you have the right to notice and to be heard at all child custody matters involving your minor children. If you are not properly served, have not waived service of process, and did not voluntarily appear before the court, then you can file a motion to vacate any child custody schedule that was ordered by the court.
Once a child custody schedule has been established, there are many things you can do to maintain your visitation rights. First, obtain a certified copy of your court order and keep it in a safe place. Keep up-to-date on the best options for transportation for your child keeping in mind your child’s age. Maintain regular contact by telephone, email, text message and letters. If you have a computer at home consider obtaining a camera to set up private video communication with your child. Contact a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, attorney at the Law Office of Rebekah Brown-Wiseman, P.A., to make sure that you maintain close and continuing relationships with your children.