Relocating following divorce

[Jonsey79]

Posting here for traffic...

I am currently living several hours away from family. We live where we do because we moved here a few years ago for dh's job. We have dc.

We're now thinking about divorce.

I really want to live close to family. As a single parent I think their support will be so important.

Ideally, I'd like to move back to near them and have dh do the same, with us selling up and buying separate new homes in that area. His family is there too and we could both get jobs there.

Has anyone relocated following a divorce? Is it possible that he could force me to stay here? I do have lots of friends and a good life here but I would never have moved here if it wasn't for him. I've always been a bit homesick.

Any advice would be great. Thanks.

I know from threads I read on here that the parent who moves away is generally responsible for all the travelling related to the other parent's contact time with the kids. However, I don't think he would be able to force you to stay in the area (but someone else who is more qualified in this area will be along in a minute to confirm or deny).

I think you need to put your children first. Would they want to move several hours from their dad?
I’m in your situation too but there’s no way I would move my children far from their dad

I agree - I'm hoping I can persuade him to move too.

Ah! Realise I didn’t read your op properly! Well there’s no harm suggesting it to him, but if he’s not keen you’ll have to make your peace with that

As far as the court is concerned, it’s not about you. It’s about the best interests of the children. Would it mess up their schooling? Would the schools in the new location be any better? Would you be able to access cheaper childcare etc which would mean you had more disposable income/better standard of living? What would your proposal be for facilitating contact? etc etc

Some good points to consider, thank you. Luckily the dc are young enough that schooling wouldn't be too much of an upheaval - ie no GCSEs etc yet. Schools back home are excellent.

In terms of childcare, it'd probably be similar in cost, but we'd have grandparents as back up. At the moment, if there's a childcare emergency then one of us has to leave work or use annual leave. It would be much easier with family back up.