PSA on Moving Clauses

Happy Tuesday! Most parenting plans - whether in Juvenile Court or Domestic Relations Court, contain clauses that state that a parent cannot move out of Lake County "or a contiguous" county without approval of the other parent or the Court. That language - or language like it - is in probably 98% of parenting plans. There's a real problem with it though. What if you live in Perry (Lake County) and your ex-husband moves to Westlake (Cuyahoga County)? According to Google Maps - that's 51 miles away away (and 55 minutes with no traffic). But Lake & Cuyahoga Counties are touching, so there would be no way to stop that move - even though it's clearly not in the best interest of the children. That's why I started including in my plans language that a parent would need the agreement of the other parent if they want to move more than 25-30 miles away from their present address (or whatever distance the parties are comfortable with for their kids). Obviously there may be times where you need to move, and where a move would be best for your kids, but in a shared parenting plan no one wants their kids in for over an hour several times per week. Plus, t-ball games, soccer games, ballet recitals etc all become a lot harder to get to for the parent that's further away - even if it's the next county over.