A child custody decision handed down from the Kentucky Supreme Court reinforces, yet again, that a non-custodial parent is devoid of rights.

In the this particlular case, the couple shared joint custody with the mother having primary physical custody. A long story short, she got remarried and moved, but the father was still able to maintain his normal visits (I frickin’ hate that word). In 2004, however she moved to from Virginia to West Virginia which put 6 hours of distance between the father and his child. The father filed a motion to modify and was awarded custody by the Domestic Relations Commissioner. Then the mother filed exceptions and the Circuit Court sustained her expections and returned physical custody to the mother. The father appealed and it went to the Kentucky Supremem Court.

The issue of who ended up with the child is not the issue here. Who knows, maybe the father is a complete tool.What bothered me when I read about this child custody case was this:

The court also noted that it would not deprive the mother of custody just because she moved farther away from the father.

So, if I did live in Kentucky my ex-wife could move anywhere she wanted, claim that it’s in the best interest of the child, and there’s nothing I could do about it? That is nothing more than ridiculous. Why even have a custody agreement?