Once a couple divorces, their lives change in many ways. Five years after a divorce, their lives may not even resemble what they were like during the marriage, and that's common in families.

After a divorce, former spouses may switch jobs or change careers. They may go back to school to earn a degree and be offered a job in another state.

A former spouse may fall in love with someone online, remarry and want to move across the country to be with their new spouse. Or, following a divorce, an ex may want to move back home to be closer to family so they can have help raising the children.

When a parent wants to "move away" with their children after a divorce, they must take into consideration the other parent's feelings about the move. Though the laws differ from state to state, generally a parent can move away with the children if he or she has a permanent order for sole physical custody.

If the parents have a joint custody, and one parent wants to move away with the children and the other does not want them to, the parent who wishes to move must go to court and prove why such a move would be in the children's best interests.

What is your current arrangement like?

Perhaps you and your ex technically have "joint custody" of the children per the parenting agreement and you wish to move away. In reality, the children have not seen the other parent in months because your ex keeps travelling to exotic places.

When there is a dispute, the court looks at what the parenting agreement says, but it also looks closely at the current parenting schedule. Rather than relying on what's on paper, the court wants to know what the real situation is.

Whether you wish to move away with your children or contest such a move, you should be represented by a family law attorney from the outset.