NC Custody / Visitation Issue After School Change – Looking for Advice
Location: Apex, Wake County, NC
PI have a permanent custody order from Wake County dated March 4, 2025. I live in Apex, NC; my ex‑wife and kids live in Burlington (Alamance County). When the order was issued, the kids attended school in Apex.
The order gives me visitation on the 1st and 3rd weekends: • School in session: pickup from school Friday, return Monday morning
• School out: Friday 6 PM pickup, Monday 6 PM drop‑off at a designated location
Months later, my ex unilaterally changed the kids’ school to Alamance County. The order was never modified.
After that, we followed an informal arrangement that worked: she usually dropped the kids at my home Friday evening, and either picked them up Sunday evening, or I returned them Sunday or Monday, depending on schedules.
As of May 11, 2026, she is demanding strict enforcement—requiring me to pick up the kids from their current school at 2:25 PM on Fridays and drop them off at school on Mondays. The school is about an hour from my home, and leaving work early every other Friday seriously affects my job.
I’m not trying to reduce visitation—only make reasonable adjustments or swap weekends when needed (I also travel for work). She refuses to cooperate.
What’s the best way to handle this in NC? Modify visitation, mediation, or something else? Does a unilateral school change matter?