What is Sole Physical Custody/Parent of Primary Residence?
The relocation analysis is quite different if a court finds that a sole physical custody arrangement exists or should exist. The New Jersey Supreme Court has defined a sole physical custody arrangement as one in which, “[a]lthough both roles [that of primary and secondary caretaker] create responsibility over children of divorce, the primary caretaker has the greater physical and emotional role.” 5 In such an instance where a sole physical custody arrangement exists, a court shall not utilize a best interest standard in determining a request for relocation; rather, it is guided by a two-prong test established by the New Jersey Supreme Court. A court must first determine whether the request to relocate is made in good faith and for good cause, rather than intended solely to frustrate the parental rights of the other parent. If the parent seeking to move can meet this initial burden, then, in order to prevent the relocation, the parent opposing the move must prove the second prong of the
