My ex-wife and I are divorced and completed property settlement in 2012. We have an 11-year-old daughter that I see every second weekend (would have been more frequent, but I live in Caulfield and they live in Hoppers Crossing, so mid-week stays are impractical). There are no formal agreements, court orders, etc.
Without prior consultation or agreement, my ex-wife has informed me she has purchased a property in Heathcote and will be moving there shortly with my daughter. Heathcote is approx 130km from my home, approx 1hour and 50 minutes in evening traffic. My ex-wife is wanting me to meet for a handover in Thomastown, which she says is about half-way time-wise between Heathcote and Caulfield. It will take longer to/from Thomastown than it currently takes to/from Hoppers Crossing, plus this would see me travelling twice as frequently, i.e. for both pick-up and drop-off, rather than the current arrangement where one of us does pick-up and one of us does drop-off. I.e. her proposal would require the fortnightly number of kilometers and time spent in car more than doubling.
The move to Heathcote is discretionary (based on a desire to live in the country), and I was not consulted about it. It feels to me that my ex-wife should bear the extra travel burden of this discretionary move. Can anyone help on whether I have any legal basis under family law to compel my ex-wife to do this?
Regards,
Without prior consultation or agreement, my ex-wife has informed me she has purchased a property in Heathcote and will be moving there shortly with my daughter. Heathcote is approx 130km from my home, approx 1hour and 50 minutes in evening traffic. My ex-wife is wanting me to meet for a handover in Thomastown, which she says is about half-way time-wise between Heathcote and Caulfield. It will take longer to/from Thomastown than it currently takes to/from Hoppers Crossing, plus this would see me travelling twice as frequently, i.e. for both pick-up and drop-off, rather than the current arrangement where one of us does pick-up and one of us does drop-off. I.e. her proposal would require the fortnightly number of kilometers and time spent in car more than doubling.
The move to Heathcote is discretionary (based on a desire to live in the country), and I was not consulted about it. It feels to me that my ex-wife should bear the extra travel burden of this discretionary move. Can anyone help on whether I have any legal basis under family law to compel my ex-wife to do this?
Regards,