How Far A Custodial Parent May Move In New York State | David Bliven

FESCH.TV INFORMIERT:

There is no hard-and-fast exact rule on how far a custodial parent can move with their child within New York State. However, generally speaking, and assuming the custodial parent does not have the other parent’s permission or court permission, they would usually be allowed to move around 20-30 miles maximum. As aforementioned, there is really no bright-line measure on how far a custodial parent would be allowed to move, unless the custody agreement or order entered into previously states a specific limit on distance.
Many (though not all) divorce settlement agreements that deal with child custody include a relocation clause. Relocation clauses put a specific geographical limit on how far away the custodial parent can move while retaining residential custody of the child. This limit is usually expressed as a space within a certain radius of their current residence. It serves as the “bright-line demarcation” that tells the custodial parent exactly how far away they are permitted to move.
If there is no bright-line demarcation in a prior order or agreement and a custodial parent wants to move, analysis is required. Specifically, it must be ascertained whether the distance of the move would be so great as to impact the non-custodial parent’s visitation rights, as well as their ability to participate in all other aspects of the child’s life to the degree that they had been doing historically.
For example, let’s say a non-custodial parent had been very involved with their child’s extracurricular activities, including school events, plays, sporting events and things of that nature. If the non-custodial parent is very involved in these activities, then the custodial parent moving even 20 miles away could be considered an undue infringement on the non-custodial parent’s rights. This is because it adds an additional 20 miles of travel each way for the non-custodial parent, which they have to undergo every time they want to participate in their child’s life (as they had been doing historically up until that point).
Sometimes it’s not just the mileage. For instance, in New York City, 20 miles could be a tremendous amount of time to travel, so the court would also take that into consideration as well. I have seen moves as short as 12 miles away be disapproved by the courts. Indeed, I even saw a case where a parent was moving from one neighborhood within Nassau County to another neighborhood within Nassau County and their relocation got disapproved by the judge because the judge said, “As a practical matter, it’s not just the mileage that matters, it’s also the time that it’s going to take”. So some judges are taking that into consideration as well especially if that non-custodial parent already had joint custody and was very involved in every aspect of the child’s life.

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