For some athletes at this year’s Olympics, the emotional back stories that cement the public’s interest have not come to fruition. Ted Ligety had several disappointing runs. The same could be said for speed skater Shani Davis. The “Flying Tomato”, Shaun White, crashed in the highly anticipated half-pipe event.
This left Bode Miller, the 36-year-old alpine skier who has had a tenuous relationship with the media for most of his career. However, when he finished with the bronze medal in the Super-G event, his tearful breakdown when talking about his deceased brother endeared him to the public (or at least the media). That’s when stories about his other setbacks prior to the Olympics (his knee surgery, and his custody battle) were put in the spotlight.
We highlighted the transcontinental legal battle in a previous post. While Miller and ex-girlfriend Sara McKenna were eventually able to reach a temporary custody and parenting time agreement regarding their son, the case brought about interesting (and unresolved) questions about a woman’s right to relocate while pregnant. Essentially, does a pregnant woman’s right to relocate trump an expectant father’s right to live near his child? Moreover, may a pregnant woman move away from the jurisdiction after a paternity matter has been initiated?
Of course, the individual facts of a particular case are likely to dictate the answers to these questions, as there are a number of scenarios where these questions could be answered in the affirmative as well as the negative. Nevertheless, it exemplifies the need to have an experienced family law attorney involved in child custody disputes.
Source: Babble.com “Bode Miller’s custody case matters more than you think,” Alice
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