In making the initial determination of parental responsibilities under a divorce case or a parental responsibility case, the court is without authority to order a parent to live in any particular location. Rather, the court must accept the place where each parent chooses or intends to live, and then make an allocation of parental responsibilities based upon the best interests of the children given the parents respective choice of residency locations. Given that at the time of dissolution, both parents are on equal ground with respect to parental responsibilities, neither has a vested parenting right or decision making responsibilities that are superior to the others. If you have a case that involves such a situation where one party is not planning on living in the metro are, mediation with at professional mediator at Mediation Partners is your best option to reach a resolution that is in your children’s best interest. Remember, children’s level of success after divorce is directly related to the degree of conflict between the parents, not the actual terms of the agreement.