Osman

Florida law used to be fairly liberal in allowing divorced parents with custody of children to move whenever and wherever they wanted. In some cases, one parent could take the children and move out of state even if the other parent objected.

That’s much harder now because of a 2006 parent relocation law that makes it tougher for primary caregivers to relocate. For example, before a primary caregiver can move more than 50 miles away, he or she must first provide the other parent with an official “notice of intent to move,” says Edith G. Osman, a family law expert and shareholder at Carlton Fields in Miami. If the parent left behind objects to the move, the matter could end up in court.

Osman attributes the tougher rules to “a change in the attitude of fathers.” Traditionally, she says, it was usually the mother who got custody of the kids and, if the mother wanted to move out of town, most fathers wouldn’t object. More fathers, Osman says, “want to be more active dads.”