The issue of where a child primarily lives is crucial, and a trial court erred in stripping custody from the parent of primary residence following a move to a different part of the state without holding a hearing, an appellate court has ruled.

The Appellate Division reversed and remanded a decision in which the plaintiff, referred to only as A.J. in the complaint, appealed a Sept. 28, 2018, order that transferred custody of her young children to her former husband after she failed to comply with a prior order related to her moving from Elizabeth to Mount Holly with the children.