I was divorced in Dec 2008. I’m getting remarried in June 2009. My ex and I have joint custody right now because we are both in the military and both live in the same city. Our divorce decree says any year I’m on tap to possibly deploy overseas (whether I do or not), my daughter goes to him for the entire year and vice versa. It also says when I retire, I get my daughter permanently. Now after I’m married this month, is it unreasonable to modify the custody arrangement (after only 6 months and some change)? I figured with my new husband, my deployement status would be irrelevant because someone would always be home to care for my daughter. I want to make this change because my ex has volunteered and been excepted to move to Germany for the next serveral years and I don’t want my daughter to potentially have to move back and forth from Germany to the US every other year. Thank you.
Your new husband does not have any rights concerning your daughter, and while marriage can be considered a substantial change in circumstances affecting the child, it is unlikely that custody would be changed based on that fact in this case. However your ex’s move to Germany may indeed be a reason that the courts would alter custody, as there is a strong argument that traveling between countries every other year is not likely in any child’s best interest.