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Custody & Kidnapping

.Can I take child out of state for brief trip? (currently married/living together)

Although I cannot advise you on your particular situation, most states assume married parents to have equal rights to their children. In many states, generally a parent might not need permission to go to another state for a short period of time with his/her child - if the parent were planning on moving somewhere, or staying for a long period of time, that might be another story but again, I can’t say for sure. Whether or not a parent can report another parent for taking the child out of the state against the other parent’s will may depend on the exact language of the state’s custodial interference/parental kidnapping laws, which can apply to married and unmarried parents. Here is the language of your state’s law: LINK TO THE CUSTODIAL INTERFERENCE LAW However, these types of laws can be hard to interpret and easy to misinterpret and so you may want to talk to a lawyer in your state who can advise you about this to be certain - and to make sure that there are no other laws that may apply.

If a parent is planning a short trip for a visit out of state and s/he believes that the other parent may try to do something drastic like tell the police that s/he kidnapped the child, the parent who is planning the trip may want to ask an attorney (or even someone in authority at the police station) whether or not the police would get involved if the other parent did call them based on the specific situation. Another possibility that may arise (aside from reporting the parent to the police for parental kidnapping) is that the left-behind parent who objects to a child being gone may decide to file a custody petition or some other court action to try to get temporary custody or to try to ask the judge to order the other parent to return to the state with the child. Again, I don’t know what may or may not be possible in your state and whether or not a judge would take any action may depend on the specifics of the situation.

You may want to talk to a lawyer in your state who deals with custody/ family law issues for advice. Here is a link for free and paid lawyers:LINK

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