Case Summary: Mother petitioned the Court to be allowed to move her and her child to Florida. However, before the Court ruled, Mother moved to Florida. The Court ordered Mother to return and a hearing was held on the matter. The Court looked to the Model Relocation Act proposed by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers even though it had not been adopted by the Delaware General Assembly. The Act required the Court to consider each party's relationship with the child, the age and developmental stage of the child, the feasibility of preserving the other parent's relationship with the child, the child's preference, whether there is a pattern of relocation designed to thwart the other parent's relationship with the child, whether the proposed move would enhance the quality of the child's life and the reason for relocation. The Court considered the following relevant facts. Father had a job working five days a week, a wife and another child. Mother currently worked until 8 or 9 at night resulting in maternal grandmother caring for the child after school. If Mother was allowed to move to Florida, she would receive a higher paying job where she would be done at 4:30 in the afternoon and the schools in Florida were better. The Court found that most of these facts were in favor of the Mother relocating and authorized the move. However, since Mother had originally moved without permission of the Court, the Court effectuated only a temporary order which would be reviewed prior to the start of the following school year.

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