Highest Court Changes Standard for Divorced Parent Wanting to Leave NJ
A New Jersey Supreme Court set a new standard last year for when a divorced parent can relocate to a new state. The new standard overturns two decades of precedent and now focuses on whether the move would be in the “best interest of the child.” The new standard adopted by the New Jersey court now uniformly applies the “best interest of the child” standard to all family law matters dealing with children and child custody. Historically, courts have been reluctant to allow a parent to move a child out-of-state and further away from the non-custodial parent. Concerned that the child’s relationship with the non-custodial parent would deteriorate, the New Jersey Supreme Court set a fairly high bar for parents seeking to relocate their children. Baures and the No Harm to the Child Standard That changed in 2001 when the New Jersey Supreme Court revisited the issue in Baures v. Lewis . The New Jersey court reasoned that focusing exclusively on the well-being of the child was short-s...