What Happens if the Primary Custodial Parent Joins the Military

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: California

There is a bit of backstory, here, but I'll try to keep to the pertinent details. I was in the military. Got married, had kids, got divorced. Eventually got sole physical custody, and joint legal. Got remarried. Got a move-away order to a different state. Ex still lives in the state that issued the order, so (I think?) jurisdiction has not changed from original state. I still maintain sole physical with joint legal (she has summer visitation). I am considering going back into the military. I am concerned whether I'll have to get a new set of move-away orders, or whether mine and my dependents' state of legal residence will remain in the state where I join the military from. If I need to get an order modification, would it be necessary to do so every time I PCS? It seems unrealistic to expect a person to file for a change of orders in a different state every few years, but I'm not a judge, or a lawyer. Is it pointless to enter the military given my situation? Also, quick version of backstory, the ex got the children taken away because she abused them, but I managed to botch the legal stuff just enough that I still got sole physical, but there is pretty much nothing to point to saying that she abused them, at this point. She had a misdemeanor in the past year for violating a domestic violence restraining order, if that's relevant. Any help would be appreciated.

The first thing you need to do before anything else, is make sure you won't have issues rejoining as a divorced parent. THEN you can think about getting your orders sorted out.

Not to sound less than grateful, but your advice isn't really helpful. Being prior military, and in talking with a recruiter, I am well aware of how the military works. I am concerned with how the law applies to my current situation.

Believe it or not, I do understand. Being that a local recruiter got it oh so wrong in my family once before, it's always wise to triple check these little things. No? 'Course it is!

Standby.

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Quoting asa

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I am concerned whether I'll have to get a new set of move-away orders, or whether mine and my dependents' state of legal residence will remain in the state where I join the military from.

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The state that has continuing exclusive jurisdiction over the custody state by virtue of its issuance of the most recent custody order will continue to have continuing exclusive jurisdiction. That, from what you have told us, is the state in which your ex- resides.

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Quoting asa

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If I need to get an order modification, would it be necessary to do so every time I PCS?

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You should be able to get the court to issue an order allowing you to relocate consistent with your ordered changes of station. if you cannot, and the order requires you to get permission before changing the children's domicile to a new state, then you would need to petition for modification; but I doubt that the court would impose that hurdle.

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Quoting asa

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My question involves a child custody case from the State of: California

There is a bit of backstory, here, but I'll try to keep to the pertinent details. I was in the military. Got married, had kids, got divorced. Eventually got sole physical custody, and joint legal. Got remarried. Got a move-away order to a different state. Ex still lives in the state that issued the order, so (I think?) jurisdiction has not changed from original state. I still maintain sole physical with joint legal (she has summer visitation). I am considering going back into the military. I am concerned whether I'll have to get a new set of move-away orders, or whether mine and my dependents' state of legal residence will remain in the state where I join the military from. If I need to get an order modification, would it be necessary to do so every time I PCS? It seems unrealistic to expect a person to file for a change of orders in a different state every few years, but I'm not a judge, or a lawyer. Is it pointless to enter the military given my situation? Also, quick version of backstory, the ex got the children taken away because she abused them, but I managed to botch the legal stuff just enough that I still got sole physical, but there is pretty much nothing to point to saying that she abused them, at this point. She had a misdemeanor in the past year for violating a domestic violence restraining order, if that's relevant. Any help would be appreciated.

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You already live in a different state. Long distance visitation orders are already in place. As long as you take responsibility for any additional costs/time factors involved in transportation for visitation, I believe that all you would have to do is notify mom and the court that you are relocating again. If you every get stationed outside of the country, that of course would be a different story.

Thank you to everybody so far. I am seeing conflicting interpretations, it seems. Is there, short of hiring a lawyer, a way to know for certain which is correct? Obviously, I would like this most recent answer to be the right one, and hope it is, but I also don't want to break any laws.

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Quoting asa

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Thank you to everybody so far. I am seeing conflicting interpretations, it seems. Is there, short of hiring a lawyer, a way to know for certain which is correct? Obviously, I would like this most recent answer to be the right one, and hope it is, but I also don't want to break any laws.

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The purpose of relocation laws is to prevent a parent from arbitrarily moving children away from the other parent, and to make sure, if the parent does move away, that an appropriate visitation schedule is in place for the other parent. Not to tie the parents up with unnecessary trips to court and not for the court to micromanage parents.

As I said. You already live out of state, you already have a long distance schedule the children are already located a long distance away from mom. The only "change" that would be made here is that you will be managing that long distance visitation schedule from a new long distance location.

You can certainly consult with consult with a CA attorney (you do not need to hire one to consult with one) to verify what I am telling you.

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Quoting asa

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Thank you to everybody so far. I am seeing conflicting interpretations, it seems.

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At least here, I think everybody is on the same page. While we cannot provide absolute guarantees about what will happen, we are telling you what should happen based upon the facts that you have shared.

Thank you everyone, for all the help. Not too be too much trouble, but what would be the proper procedure for notifying the court, and my ex if the move (should it take place)?