Custody

Most states have laws about what you need to do before leaving the state with your children, or even moving far within the same state, even if you are the parent who has custody. These are called state relocation laws and they can be found as a separate law, as one part of a custody law, or sometimes in judicial decisions called case law. In some states, the state relocation law applies even before a parent has filed for custody or a judge has entered a custody order. An attorney can tell you about the relocation law in your state.

Relocation laws can be challenging for survivors because many of these laws require that you give notification to the other parent a certain number of days before moving out of state. Some laws require the parent who wishes to relocate to file a petition in court to request permission from the judge to relocate. Often relocation laws include a list of factors that a judge must consider prior to permitting the custodial parent to relocate, and in some states, domestic violence is a factor.