Not OP - but I don’t think you are being helpful at this point, just insisting on your own view. OP - you just have to make the best decision all things considered. I personally wouldn’t move a kid that age unless there was a strong preference on their part otherwise. Child support in relocation cases usually provides an offset for travel costs, if that helps. |
For Pete’s sake! Never said it was the military’s fault or they wouldn’t pay for the move. There are many factors for us to consider and it is not financially feasible for us to move back, irrespective of what the military will or won’t pay for. That fact doesn’t magically change just because you keep saying it is financially feasible. Again, you don’t know what you are talking about when it comes to my particular situation. |
| You don't want to move back. You at a minimum need to offer, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break, All summer and any holiday breaks longer than 3 days and fully pay air fare if you want to take your child with you. |
Or better yet, MOM stays with daughter in DC (who stays with friends and her established routine AND is able to continue a relationship with her dad) and mom visits her new DH and takes daughter with her during breaks. This is a horrendous situation to put your daughter in...all because you didn't think about the impact it might have on all of you when you chose to get remarried to a man who could be deployed oceans away from her own father. If you have new children with active duty husband, that really sucks, but they should stay with you too and your active duty husband should deploy and you can all visit him. It is not your EX-DH's fault that you chose to remarry someone who has to move away. He should not have to be okay with you moving his daughter that far away. |
| I agree that you are putting your daughter in a terrible position. |
How are you so sure it is not financially feasible three years down the line? Are you planning to mooch off someone else or something that you couldn't do in DC. |
+1 Yep, but in today's world, too many parents are only considering what's best for them. Kids' lives come second. |
+1 exactly!! |
| I assumed what OP meant by DC wasn't feasible was due to the cost of living here and (assuming her new husband is retiring) they would not be receiving BAH to offset that cost. |
Assuming he has a degree, or is smart and getting it, he should be able to get a job equal pay if not better. Most military we know do a lot better upon retirement if they were smart and got degrees that were meaningful. Plus, he'll get a pension (even if it is small if he's enlisted) and tricare/health care for minimal cost. They could make it work but they don't want to. If he is an officer, his retirement pay should be pretty decent. |
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Let me get this straight.., you all are suggesting that OP essentially leave her husband and separate her other kids from their dad because it’s not fair for her ex that she has to move? Get real people. I don’t know what fantasy land you are all living in but no court would ever require that. How do we know military dad is deploying? I realize the military does deploy but there are millions of people in the military and not all of them are in tradional deployment positions where they are “oceans” away for long periods of time. Is the dad going to pay for any of the extra expenses associated with OP essentially maintaining two homes and flying her other kids back and forth to go see their dad? It’s for his benefit that she is becoming the equivalent of a single mom so he should contribute to the increased costs. The two reasonable options are that mom moves and takes kid or mom moves and leaves kid here. A court cannot not consider a possible future move, only the actual move in question and whether it is in the best interests of the child. I’d go with your kid’s preference at this age. If everything else is equal (it may not be), that’s what a court would probably rely on on anyway since the other factors are not decisive. It is possible a court would order an evaluation by a psychologist or guardian ad litem or something along those lines. |
| I just wanted to say good luck, OP. That is a really hard position to be in. I think a counselor for your daughter is important and I really would speak with a lawyer too as someone earlier suggested. |