Unfortunately, fixing your child’s problems with his father is not as easy as moving out of state.
In fact, if you move out of state to get away from your ex in the hopes that the move will help, you will probably be sorely disappointed. By taking your child away from his father, even if their relationship is rocky, you are actually violating your husband’s legal rights to his child, and you could be in trouble with the court as a result.
If your son is having problems with his father, speak to both of them about it if possible. If the problems are relatively minor, such as “my father is way too strict and I don’t have any fun at his house” or “my father just plays on the computer and ignores me while I’m at his house”, then if it is possible and would help, have a friendly conversation with your ex about the issue.
If the problems are major, such as “my father hits me when I’m at his house” or “my father does drugs while I am at his house”, then there are a couple of steps you should take. First, you should petition the court to get custody severely restricted. You could ask for supervised custody only or no custody. You should also seek professional counseling for your son. These problems will only worsen over time if not dealt with.
If you want to move out of state and your ex has some type of custody, he must agree to the move. Otherwise, you must petition the court for permission to move.
In court, you will have to show that the move would be in your child’s best interests. You could do that by showing how damaging the visits between your ex and your son are to him, and how much better your son’s life would be in a new state.
Although this may sound complicated, legally there are hoops that you have to jump through in order to move your minor child out of state.