[kristall]

I NEED YOU HELP!...ex-wife is planning on moving 9 year old daughter to Port Charlotte, Florida in the very near future(within the next 2 months.) I am 100% against the move and would appreciate any assistance from you if you live or have lived in the Port Charlotte, Florida area. Please forward any information, articles, statistics, personal experiences etc. that you have; that would benefit me in my legal attempt to keep her here with me in Minnesota. Please make sure that the information you give is verifiable as it will be submitted as evidence in court hearing. Your assistance is most appreciated. Thank You.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by kristall

I NEED YOU HELP!...ex-wife is planning on moving 9 year old daughter to Port Charlotte, Florida in the very near future(within the next 2 months.) I am 100% against the move and would appreciate any assistance from you if you live or have lived in the Port Charlotte, Florida area. Please forward any information, articles, statistics, personal experiences etc. that you have; that would benefit me in my legal attempt to keep her here with me in Minnesota. Please make sure that the information you give is verifiable as it will be submitted as evidence in court hearing. Your assistance is most appreciated. Thank You.

Where does she live now, Port Charlotte may be an improvement for all you know. It's not a hell hole. You could create a situation where the move is for the best by trying to make a comparison and give your wife ammunition.

[Ten]

kristall, I think this is more of a family law issue than a geographic one. Research MN family law thoroughly, hire a very good attorney, and don't ever back down. As the father, your rights might be close to non-existent if you back down, but if you fight, you may interrupt this potential plan to alienate.

The divorce and custody industries in the US are downright criminal but they currently have the political power. The first thing to do is to learn how they operate.

Assuming a sane, reasonable judge, which is always a question, conditions in Port Charlotte are far less important than your fathering methods and intentions.

You're her dad. Simply insist on remaining so at all costs. She'll thank you for it later, believe me.

[wetjets]

Port Charlotte is one of the nicest areas of Florida. Homes on the water are still reasonable, and it is one of the best sailing areas in the world. This does not help you but I just finished a vacation home there and love it.

[Cain]

You should search for a forum that has free legal advice (hint, link is similar in name) and look in the family law section.

I have heard there are states that have laws that state that a custodial parent cannot move the child out of state without the consent of the custodial parent since that would effectively terminate the agreed upon visitation rights.

You really need to consult with a lawyer who deals with family law for your state.

Good luck, being a non-custodial parent myself, you pretty much have an uphill battle.

[novanative75]

You should research the Florida laws, from what I know from a friend of ours who is dealing with the same thing, there is a lot of difference between Florida custody laws and law in other states, other areas. We have a friend who brought his daughter down here and gained custody and I think it was like after she had been here for 6 months, she would be a citizen so it would make it hard for her mother to have any say.

Also, and I will say first that I have never been, but I have not heard any good things about Port Charlotte, specifically crime and education. Do some research on Florida education, terrible, use that in your defense. You do not want your daughter being educated in SW FLA. I work in the schools, I know.

Good luck, I do not even know you at all, but hope you win this battle, there are many better places for a 9 year old than here!

[Roadrunner69]

You my want to look at NBC-2.com - #1 News and weather site in Southwest Florida look under the Charlotte County heading you may find something. But mainly just do whats best for your daughter, Good Luck.

[EMERALDGIRL]

Originally Posted by kristall

I NEED YOU HELP!...ex-wife is planning on moving 9 year old daughter to Port Charlotte, Florida in the very near future(within the next 2 months.) I am 100% against the move and would appreciate any assistance from you if you live or have lived in the Port Charlotte, Florida area. Please forward any information, articles, statistics, personal experiences etc. that you have; that would benefit me in my legal attempt to keep her here with me in Minnesota. Please make sure that the information you give is verifiable as it will be submitted as evidence in court hearing. Your assistance is most appreciated. Thank You.

Go to lawguru.com and you can get advice for your situation. You can search the state of Florida in the Family Law catagory to see past answers or ask an attny directly regarding your legal matter. I agree with the other poster....this is a legal matter, not a georaphical dispute. I have used it for work/school purposes and the site is very insightful.......Good luck.

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

I don't know what the laws are in Minnesota but in Florida if you are divorced and the custodial parent wants to take the child out of the state, you can block them, make them stay here. That has happened to a friend of mine.

I also know that child support in the state of Florida isn't a flat percentage of the what the non custodial Father makes, it takes into consideration what the Mother earns as well.

I hope you can come to some kind of resolution with your ex rather then making this an all out battle.

I am prejudice but Florida is a wonderful place to live, your child would have MORE time to play outside, sunshine almost all the time. Your child would be able to spend time at the ocean AND enjoy the many different kinds of wildlife here as well. Living in Florida for me and my daughter is like being on vacation everyday that we are not working or at school.

Have you considered moving down here to be near them? That might be a good thing to consider.

The route you seem to be headed down will cause irreperable damage to your relationship with your childs Mother. Is that what you really want? Do you really want to make your child's life a battlefield?

[novanative75]

Originally Posted by Lindsey_Mcfarren

I am prejudice but Florida is a wonderful place to live, your child would have MORE time to play outside, sunshine almost all the time. Your child would be able to spend time at the ocean AND enjoy the many different kinds of wildlife here as well. Living in Florida for me and my daughter is like being on vacation everyday that we are not working or at school.

It might be nice to go to the beach once in awhile in the winter months but that is not worth a terrible education and temperatures and humidity that are so bad in the summer, playing outside probably results in heat stroke. As for the wildlife, if you consider an enormous amount of lizards, a higher possibility of snakes and bugs wildlife, then come on down.