My husband, who has joint custody, opposed her taking his daughter who he sees on a regular basis and has an uncommonly close relationship with away from her maternal and paternal family just his ex can follow her new husband down to Virginia. This guy is so committed to this woman and his stepchild that he would move away from both of them a year before the case was settled to live near his own parents. As difficult of a person as the ex is, he never thought that she would leave the child behind, and now feels torn. In my opinion, a child should grow up near and involved with both parents, not one or the other. To me it's a no brainer, espeially if both parents are good ones like in this situation. My stepdaughter never expected her mother to move away without her. She thought the stepfather would come back or the mother just wouldn't move. From day one, she told us and her mother that she didn't want to leave her father and mmove to Virginia. So she would be just as crushed were she to leave her father. It's not cut and dry.
