In the beginning of my long distance parenting arrangement, my son’s father and I agreed to split air fare in half with his half not to exceed a certain amount. This went into our long distance parenting plan.

However, if that’s not possible, in California, travel cost associated with the children becomes a credit in the child support calculation. In our case, since we split the travel, it’s a wash but if you can’t split the cost of travel, check with your state on how that can factor into child support.

It is a sad but often true scenario. The non-custodial parent moves away and the custodial parent gets angry. Not that non-custodial parents NEVER get angry. They do. But there are a few pretty typical perspectives in a moveaway that breeds resentment. From the perspective of the custodial parent, you are escaping. You get freedom. You have options they don’t have. They are tied down. They have all of the responsibility. You have none. Gah! I know. I know that isn’t necessarily the case. I know it might not be true. But if you can TRY to understand that perspective, you’ll be a whole lot closer to defusing difficult situations.

That said, very often, long distance parents and custodial parents find themselves on the other side of smear campaigns both legal and towards their own children (Parental Alienation Syndrome). And while custodial parents might ALSO find themselves the subject of similar situations, in the case of a non-custodial parent, these campaigns can very often cost them custody, visitation and involvement in their child’s life and even their relationship with their own kids.

To avoid the worst case scenario, non-custodial and long distance parents need to be on their A game. They have to be proactive and they have to know HOW to prove that they aren’t the monster they are made out to be.

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This one is from the mailbox :

“My ex continues to make excuses as to why she does not answer her phone, which is my only contact with my kids. She is in one state and I am in another. My question is…is there anyway to make my ex legally responsible to answer her phone when I call? “

I’m not an attorney and this is not legal advice. I don’t know the whole story, only what’s been presented. This is from my own limited experience only.

Although a judge might never tell her she has to answer the phone, a judge will definitely enforce reasonable requests to talk to your kids. The ONLY way to prove that this is happening is to document every single instance that you call and the outcome for each time. Back this up by getting copies of your phone records. Once you have a bit of proof (more than a few phone calls), then you don’t call the authorities but instead, you put together a ‘motion’ and take her to court.

Your case has to be made in the state that has jurisdiction over the custody case. That would be either the state in which the original custody arrangement was made – or the state in which the child lives, if they have moved and been in the new state long enough. (research “The Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act” for the states in question)

When you’re ready, you file a motion… (More)

When someone tells me they are getting a divorce and the other parent will be getting physical custody of the child(ren), there is one piece of advice I always give them. It is : Make your parenting plan EXACTLY what you want no matter how wonderful your relationship with the other parent is right now, no matter how idealistic your views of co-parenting may be… plan for the worst.

My ex and I split quite peacefully. There was some pain and hurt – but we were friends. We wanted our son to always have both parents. We wanted to cooperate and co-parent even though we were separated. We had a verbal agreement and even went so far as to take it to an attorney to make it official (we thought “WOW… that’s a stretch… make it legal?! We don’t need to do all that, do we?”).

Then his mother and then, girlfriend got involved. Oddly, the attorney disappeared along with the written agreement. Suddenly, he simply was not going to give me my son, as we had agreed. He filed for divorce again, this time claiming abandonment. That was, of course, overturned and we went through the legal process and got a parenting plan in place. I fought tooth and nail to get stuff into the parenting plan that we had previously agreed upon. Things he had ASSURED me he thought were in the best interest of our son only months before.

Later, once everything was… (More)

“She asked the judge if she could keep the kids from him if he didn’t pay child support”, my friend told me. I’m sure my cheeks blanched. “Personally, I don’t think he should get to see them. If he can’t pay child support, he can’t see them”, she continued.

I almost felt rage. I replied very carefully. “You’re STUPID!” haha… just kidding. I didn’t say that. I actually said something to the tune of “That would never be in the best interest of the kids. She might be mad when he doesn’t pay. It might even put her in a really tough spot financially. But the kids need both parents no matter how pissed off they are at each other.”

I was shocked to hear someone I consider a friend say something like this. In a moment, every argument I’ve ever had with my son’s father and every argument my ex husband ever had with my stepdaughter’s mother came flashing back. It’s a good thing that we have courts and judges. Sure, some judges are a pain in the rear and we might not like what they have to say sometimes – but if child support and custody cases were left up to the parents, I think keeping the kids away from the other parent would be far more popular. As would not paying child support, I’m sure.

As someone who has been on both sides of the coin… having been the long distance parent as well as the custodial… (More)