Family law: what the lawyer reads before the first call
Jamie Moreno answered the questions from a firm’s booking link. After the lawyer cleared the names for conflicts, this is the top of the brief. Not legal advice.
What Jamie wants to know: “Can they move the kids out of state before anything is decided?”
The brief
The issues to raise first
1 They say the other parent plans to move far away
“The kids are with me during the week, and Taylor just told me they want to move to Denver with them.”
A move can change which schedule works, and may need the other parent’s agreement or a court’s. No court case has been started, so unless an earlier order or agreement exists, nothing from a court says where the children live yet. Whether to ask for temporary orders before the move may be the first decision.
Ask
- Where and when does the other parent plan to move, and do they mean to take the children?
- What schedule could work after the move?
2 The children live mostly with them, and the schedule is only partly agreed
Where the children live now, and who has done most of the day-to-day care, may shape the early arrangements.
Ask
- How old are the children, and who has done most of the day-to-day care?
- How are decisions about school and health care made now?
3 They earn different amounts, so support may be in question
What each earns, how long they were together and who cares for the children may each affect support.
Ask
- Roughly what does each of them earn?
- Who pays the household bills now?
Documents to ask for
- Any court order about the children
- Any parenting plan or written agreement, even an informal one
- Recent pay stubs and the last two tax returns
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