Chris Pratt and Anna Faris have shared a seemly amicable and easy divorce. This week, TMZ reported that with the help of a judge, they came to an agreement that states that they will not live more than five miles from each other for the next five years. This clause is intended to, amongst other things, protect the consistency and accessibility of parenting time for their son Jack, who is six years old.
A separation agreement is a legally binding agreement between two spouses which can address some or all of the issues of property, support, access, and custody, amongst other things. One vital clause that is occasionally overlooked in a separation agreement is the issue of mobility.
Mobility involves the question of a parent’s right to be able to relocate from his or her current jurisdiction with the child, to another jurisdiction. A mobility clause can prevent and ultimately stop the custodial parent from relocating to another jurisdiction. Without this clause, the custodial parent can potentially relocate to any jurisdiction at any time.
The mobility notice clause generally requires the custodial parent to provide the access parent with a certain amount of notice in the event of a change in the child’s permanent residence. Providing enough notice will allow the access parent sufficient time to bring a court application to challenge the relocation or seek a variation of the access and custody arrangements.
Without a mobility notice clause inserted into a separation agreement, the access parent is limited in their ability to prevent the custodial parent from relocating with the child and in a short period of time.
Mobility clauses may also restrict a custodial parent from relocating outside a certain jurisdiction or a certain kilometer radius of where they are currently residing. This will allow the access parent to ensure that their parenting schedule will be maintained, especially pick up and drop offs to school and weekday visits, which may not be possible if the child lived too far away.
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At Feldstein Family Law Group P.C., our team of skilled family law lawyers are dedicated to serving clients throughout Ontario. We can help you negotiate your separation agreement and make sure your legal rights are fully protected. Let us take a look at your case today.
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