During your original divorce proceeding, it may have been decided that your former spouse would receive physical custody of your children at the time. While this arrangement has worked for quite some time, you may be looking to modify the custody agreement to seek physical custody. Here are some valid reasons you can use to have a judge change the agreement.

Your Former Spouse Is Relocating

The other parent may have won physical custody at first because they were staying in the same area and it would not disrupt your children's lives that much. However, there may be a move that is coming up that will change that. You could make the argument that moving to a new city or state would disrupt the lives of your children, and they would be better off staying with you. They wouldn't be in the same school and be able to easily see the same friends, which can be a big deal for a kid.

A move may also make visitation difficult for you. If your former spouse with physical custody is moving several states away, you could use this as a reason to justify taking over their physical custody, especially if your former spouse is not being forced to move. There is no reason to disrupt the lives of your children if custody can be modified to fix it.

Your Children Are In Danger

Another reason to change custody arrangements is if you feel like your children are in danger by living at your former spouse's home. A clear example of this is if your children are suffering physical abuse. File police reports and document evidence of this abuse so that you can use the information in court to request a change in physical custody.

Your children may also be in an environment that you want to get them out of. For example, if there is drug use or drug dealing going on in the home, this could be a good reason to remove your children from that environment. Even though your children may not be in physical danger, they are being raised in an environment that is not good for them due to the illegal things that are happening.

Know that you do not have to go through the process of changing physical custody alone. Work with a child custody lawyer to help you navigate the legal process, and hopefully come out at the other end as the parent with physical custody.

For more information, contact a child custody lawyer service.