Nature of the Case
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Facts
H and W divorced in 1994. H and W entered into a written property settlement agreement memorializing the terms of their oral agreement. The written agreement provided, inter alia, that the parties shall have joint custody of Ryan, with W having residential custody subject to the reasonable and liberal parenting time of defendant as mutually agreed upon by the parties. This common resolution vested the legal custody of Ryan jointly with both parties on issues pertaining to the health, education, and welfare of the child, and vested primary physical custody of Ryan with W. W hired a nanny who, with the assistance of W's mother, cared for Ryan. Ryan attended a pre-school facility part-time at first, then full time. Beginning in the first grade, Ryan was brought to a before-school care program, and then to an after-school care program three days each week until 6:00 p.m., when he was picked up by W. The other two days, H picked Ryan up from the after-school care program at approximately 4:30 p.m. During school vacations, Ryan either attended the YMCA program or W took off from work and cared for him. When Ryan was sick, W would either take off from work or W's mother would care for Ryan. W was promoted and was required to travel internationally, mostly to Asian countries, at least twice each year. H and W's mother would share the caring responsibilities for Ryan. In January 1996, H's job duties changed enabling him to expand his parental role in Ryan's life. When W was traveling, Ryan would stay overnight with H. H would pick up Ryan from school, help him with his homework, take Ryan to his sporting events and feed him dinner. When asked, H would change his morning work hours so that he could take Ryan to school in the morning. The evidence established that the parties shared the custodial responsibilities and duties in meeting Ryan's needs. The evidence also demonstrated that Ryan had a close relationship with his extended family members. Ryan saw his paternal grandparents at least once each week and the grandparents sometimes attended Ryan's sporting events. Ryan considered his twin paternal male cousins 'like brothers' and saw them at least once or twice each week, and they attended each other's sporting events. Ryan also had two close friends in Mahwah. W began a relationship with Christopher Love, who lived in Indianapolis, Indiana. They became engaged in February 2001 and planned to marry in June 2002. W was unaware that she needed the permission of H, or the court, to remove Ryan from New Jersey to take up residency in Indiana. W intended to relocate to Indiana with Ryan at the end of June 2001. H objected to the move. The trial court entered an order restraining W from removing Ryan from New Jersey and designating H as Ryan's primary residential custodial parent. W filed an application seeking permission to remove Ryan to reside with her in Indiana and for permission to enroll Ryan in the fourth grade in Indiana pending the outcome of the plenary hearing. The judge held that H and W had a shared-parenting joint custodial arrangement of equal time with Ryan, denied W's application for removal, and vested residential custody of Ryan with H. W appealed.
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