English
EspañolWhat do I have to do if I want to relocate with my child?
It’s a good idea to first check if your existing custody and visitation order says anything about moving. If you have joint legal custody and physical care or sole legal custody, and you want to move with your child, you may need to file in court to change your order and get the judge’s permission to move. The judge can consider moving 150 miles or more away from where the child lived at the time you got the custody order to be a substantial change in circumstances for the purposes of changing your order.1
If the other parent does not agree with your plan, s/he can try to convince the judge that moving is not in your child’s best interest.2
If the judge agrees to let you move, the judge can change the order to keep your child’s existing relationship with the other parent intact as much as possible. For example, the judge can include in the order:
- extended visitation with the other parent during the child’s summer vacations and school breaks;
- scheduled telephone calls for the other parent and the child;
- either or both parents to transport the child for visitation; and
- a requirement for you to post a cash bond to make sure you follow the visitation order if the judge believes you interfered with the child’s access to the other parent in the past.1
1 IA ST § 598.21D
2In re Marriage of Lower, 269 N.W. 2d 822 (Iowa 1978)
