Madonna and Guy Ritchie, part 4

I have noticed in my reading and research that Madonna’s divorce from Guy Ritchie presents an amazingly compact nugget of family law information. Their situation presents an example from which to answer questions about divorce, if we assume the hypothetical that the divorce was here in Oregon. I hope you can see the same wealth of knowledge that this news story presents to me. I have used celebrity cases such as Alec Baldwin and Britney Spears to educate TV audiences about how “regular” divorces can parallel the issues that famous people also experience.

Madonna and Guy Ritchie have homes in two countries that are separated by an ocean. Can you move or travel with the kids wherever you want during and after the divorce? In Oregon, if you want to move more than 60 miles further distant from the other parent, you must give notice in writing at least 30 days prior to the move. That means that you can move farther, but you just need to give notice. There have been cases where the non-moving parent has contested the other parent’s right to move far away, but those cases are more and more often resolved in favor of allowing the parent to move. There is even case law where an Oregon judge allowed a mother to move with the kids to New Zealand. You can’t get much farther away than that. It is always at the discretion of the court, and the best interests of the child are considered.