Relocation

This guide is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. For advice about your specific situation, consider consulting a Colorado family law attorney.

Your Situation

You're thinking about moving — or the other parent is — and that move would change where your child lives or how much time each of you spends with them. In Colorado, this is called "relocation," and it's one of the hardest issues in family law precisely because it pits two things against each other that both matter deeply: a parent's freedom to build a life wherever they choose, and a child's need for a stable relationship with both parents. There's often no clean answer, and courts know it.

Relocation applies whenever a parent wants to move with a child in a way that would substantially change the child's geographic ties to the other parent. This can be a move out of state or even a significant move within Colorado. The stakes are real: depending on how the court rules, you could end up moving with your child, moving without your child, or staying put. This guide will walk you through what the law requires, how Colorado judges actually approach these cases, the concrete steps to take, and what research says tends to help children through it.

What the Law Requires

If you're the parent the child lives with most of the time and you intend to move somewhere that would substantially change your child's geographical ties to the other parent, Colorado law requires you to give the other parent written notice as soon as practicable. That notice must state four things: your intent to relocate, the location where you plan to live, the reason for the move, and a proposed revised parenting time plan.

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You must provide written notice and a proposed new parenting plan to the other parent before — or at the time — you ask the court for permission to relocate; this is a required step, not an optional courtesy.

A few other legal points matter here:

• You need an existing parenting time order before you can file a relocation motion. The relocation process is for modifying an order that already exists.
• You generally cannot take the children out of Colorado without permission. Once a case is filed and the other party is served, an automatic court order prohibits removing the children from the state without either the other parent's written consent or a court order. This takes effect immediately and lasts for the whole case. The same restriction appears in standard parenting plans: without a written agreement or court order allowing it, the children may not move out of state.
• The governing standard is the best interests of the child. When the majority-time (or equal-time) parent seeks to relocate after final orders, the court uses a best-interests analysis built around specific statutory factors — not the heightened "endangerment" standard. Importantly, a reduction in the other parent's parenting time caused by the move is not treated as a "restriction," so it doesn't trigger that endangerment standard.
• Neither parent gets a presumption. Colorado eliminated the old rule that favored the majority-time parent in relocation disputes. Both parents start on equal footing, and both share the burden of showing how the move affects the child's best interests. A court actually commits error if it presumes the child should stay near both parents, or presumes the move is good or bad.
• A court cannot order you to live in a particular place. Instead, the court must accept where each parent intends to live and allocate parenting responsibilities accordingly. A judge also can't craft a schedule designed to pressure you into abandoning your plans to move.
• These hearings get docket priority — expect a relatively faster hearing date than other family law matters.
• The usual two-year waiting period that limits how often you can ask to modify parenting time does not apply to relocation cases.

One nuance worth flagging: if the parent seeking to move has less than equal parenting time, a different and tougher standard (the endangerment standard) generally applies, unless the parties agree otherwise. The best-interests relocation framework described above is for the parent who has the child a majority or equal amount of the time.

What Courts Typically Do

Colorado judges decide relocation by weighing a long list of statutory factors — the general best-interest factors plus additional factors tailored specifically to relocation. In practice, courts look at:

• The relocating parent's reasons for wanting to move, and the other parent's reasons for opposing it;
• The history and quality of each parent's relationship with the child;
• Educational opportunities at both the current and proposed locations;
• The presence of extended family at each location;
• The advantages of the child staying with the primary caregiver;
• The anticipated impact of the move on the child; and
• Whether a reasonable parenting time schedule can still be fashioned if the move happens.

No single factor automatically controls — courts balance them against each other. That said, judges tend to give substantial weight to how the move would affect the child's bond with the non-moving parent. Where a proposed move would effectively eliminate the other parent's meaningful contact without substantial, concrete benefits to the child, courts have been willing to deny relocation. On the other hand, courts evaluate the situation as it exists at the time of the proposed move, not based on older facts.

Courts also expect the relocating parent to come with specifics, not vague plans. In practice, a judge wants to see specific, non-speculative information about the child's proposed new living conditions and a concrete revised parenting plan — not just "things will be better there."

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If the court decides relocation with the child is not in the child's best interests but the moving parent decides to move anyway without the child, the court will craft a new parenting plan to fit the changed circumstances.

One more thing you should know: if either party requests a professional evaluation of the parenting arrangement in a relocation dispute, the court is required to order one. These evaluations often carry real weight in the judge's decision.

Step by Step: What to Do

1. Confirm you have an existing parenting time order. The relocation process only works if there's already a court-approved order in place. If there isn't one yet, relocation is handled differently as part of your initial parenting case.

2. Check your current order for relocation restrictions. Read your existing parenting plan or order carefully. If it contains any restrictions on moving, you'll need to disclose and address those.

3. Give written notice to the other parent as soon as practicable. Your notice must include your intent to relocate, the specific location, your reason for the move, and a proposed revised parenting time plan. Do this before or at the time you file.

4. Prepare a concrete revised parenting plan. Think through how the other parent will keep a real relationship with the child after the move — including in-person time and remote contact like video calls. Be specific and realistic.

5. Build your best-interests explanation. Gather the facts that show why the move serves your child's wellbeing — stability, education, extended family, and how you'll preserve the other parent's relationship. Courts focus on the child's welfare, not a parent's preference.

6. File your relocation motion and serve the other parent. Rather than hunting down and hand-filling the right forms, use the guided wizard on this site — it will interview you about your situation and prepare and pre-fill the correct relocation paperwork, including the motion, the required notice certifications, and the proposed order for the judge to complete.

7. Do not remove the children from Colorado in the meantime. Until you have the other parent's written consent or a court order, taking the children out of state can carry serious consequences.

8. Watch the deadlines if you're the responding parent. If you're the one objecting to a relocation, you must file a written objection within 21 days of being served. Missing that window could let the court decide without your input. The wizard can prepare your objection as well.

9. Prepare for a hearing — and expect it sooner than usual. Because relocation hearings get docket priority, your hearing date may come faster than in other cases. If you want a professional evaluation, request one; the court must order it when either party asks.

What Research Shows Can Help

Relocation cases are genuinely difficult to settle, and the research-informed guidance for these situations centers on one idea: build parenting plans that preserve as much meaningful time as possible for both parents. Guidance in this field encourages each parent to formulate a proposed plan that maximizes the children's time with both of them — and for the parent who will live farther away, to build in regular remote contact like video calls to keep that relationship alive across the distance.

The practical takeaway is that coming to the table (or to mediation) with a thoughtful, workable plan — rather than an all-or-nothing demand — tends to serve children better and lands better with a court that is, by law, focused on the child's best interests.

What to Do Today

• Pull out your current parenting time order and read it closely for any relocation restrictions and the exact overnight split each parent currently has.
• Draft your written notice to the other parent — intent to move, location, reason, and a proposed revised parenting plan — so it's ready to send.
• Start sketching a concrete revised parenting plan that maximizes both parents' time, including video calls or other remote contact for the distant parent.
• Begin the guided wizard to get your relocation paperwork prepared and pre-filled correctly.
• If you're the parent objecting, calendar your 21-day deadline immediately and start the wizard to prepare your written objection.

Related Issues to Be Aware Of

• Modifying a court order: Relocation is one specific kind of order change, but you may also need to adjust child support or other terms. Note that the usual two-year bar on parenting-time modifications doesn't apply when relocation is the reason. See how to modify a court order for the broader process.

• Missed or modified parenting time: A move inevitably reshapes the existing schedule, and disputes over denied or disrupted time can follow. If parenting time is wrongly denied, courts can order makeup time of the same type and duration. Keep in mind the related principle that a change of custody should not be used to punish a parent for ignoring an order about removing a child — the child's best interests stay paramount. More on missed or modified parenting time.

• Child support: A relocation that changes the overnight split often changes the support calculation too, since Colorado support is based on both parents' incomes and the physical care arrangement. You can ask the court to address support changes as part of your relocation request. See child support.

• The child's voice: If your child is mature enough to express reasoned, independent preferences, those wishes can be considered — typically through an investigator, an evaluator, a legal representative for the child, or in some cases an in-chambers interview with the judge rather than open testimony. See the child's voice in proceedings.

• International travel with children: If your proposed move or travel crosses borders, extra protections come into play — passport decision-making allocation, registering your order in another state before travel, and in higher-risk situations, passport alert programs and passport surrender orders. See international travel with children.