Opinion ID: 1918350
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: De Facto Arrangements

Text: I will lay out the points on which ALI Principles offers an improved analysis for relocation cases. First, the underlying premise of the ALI's relocation section is that [t]he ability to change one's area of residence is an important individual right. ALI Principles, supra, § 2.20, cmt. a. Cf. Lane, 158 Vt. at 495, 614 A.2d at 789. Indeed, the right to travel is a right of constitutional dimensions. See In re Custody of D.M.G., 287 Mont. 120, 951 P.2d 1377, 1385 (1998) (citations omitted); Jaramillo v. Jaramillo, 113 N.M. 57, 823 P.2d 299, 305 (1991) (relocating parent's right to travel is so deeply ingrained in American constitutional law that it . . . needs no elaboration); Watt v. Watt, 971 P.2d 608, 616 (Wyo.1999). As these and many other courts have observed, the right of a custodial parent to move with his or her children cannot lightly be circumscribed by the wishes of the noncustodial parent. While it may seem obvious, it is important to make explicit the significance of this right to prevent the relocating parent from being perceived in a negative light, as we have seen too often. The starting point of the ALI's relocation analysis is whether the move impairs the relationship between a parent and the child. [6] This is appropriate, as the court's inquiry should be about the child's relationship to a parent, not the parent's location. This initial question immediately focuses the inquiry on the amount of custodial responsibility a parent has been exercising. The relationship between a parent and child is not defined by what may be set out in a custody or divorce decree, when the arrangements made between parents and children may differ markedly from the order. Instead, the ALI insists that the relationship be evaluated and defined by patterns of actual contact, or actual caretaking, rather than the theory embodied in a court order. In this way, ALI Principles acknowledges that the de facto arrangements for caring for a child may change over time and may differ from the plan outlined in a divorce decree or court order. Throughout the draft, the ALI relies on the de facto or acquiesced-in arrangement to determine past caretaking patterns. See, e.g., ALI Principles, supra, § 2.19(2)(a), at 331. ALI Principles provides that any significant impairment of one parent's custodial responsibility justifies review of the custody arrangement. This provision is essentially a requirement of changed circumstances, specifically tailored to the context of a relocation case.