More on Relocating and Custody - Timeline for giving notice

I have already written a bit on the (fairly) new relocation statute here. That post concerned itself more with when custodial parents should give notice of relocating. Here, I want to point out the statute has the potential for a rather serious penalty for custodial parents who do not give the proper notice. Without giving proper notice, the court can order the child not to be moved out of state or order the child returned to the non-custodial parent pending a hearing . Therein lies the major problem for a relocating parent who has custody of children: grounds for a change of custody. It also poses a rather ugly surprise when one has moved and receives an order to turn the child over to the non-custodial parent or even just to return to court for a hearing.

For those of you who do not have a divorce case but a paternity case: this statute applies to you also.

I have had cases where the custodial parent removed the child from the state without any notice to the non-custodial parent. I have had other cases where the custodial just moved across town without telling the non-custodial parent. That the statute hopes to end this kind of behavior is a very good thing. At the present my concern is with those people who move from one rental to another or who acquire another home within the same area and then find themselves fighting an injunction because they failed to give the proper notice of the move.

The following charts when notice must be given, what the notice must contain, and the time in which the non-relocating individual must respond.

When to give notice	What Information to Give	Time for response
Not later 90 days before moving - unless not able to do so sooner	(A) The intended new residence, including the: (i) address; and (ii) mailing address of the relocating individual, if the mailing address is different than the address under item (i). (B) The home telephone number of the new residence. (C) Any other applicable telephone number for the relocating individual. (D) The date that the relocating individual intends to move. (E) A brief statement of the specific reasons for the proposed relocation of the child. (F) A proposal for a revised schedule of parenting time or grandparent visitation with the child. (G) A statement that a parent must file an objection to the relocation of the child with the court not later than sixty (60) days after receipt of the notice. (H) A statement that a nonrelocating individual may file a petition to modify a custody order, parenting time order, grandparent visitation order, or child support order.	60 days after receiving notice
Not later than 10 days after the relocating individual learns of the information to go into the notice and not later than 30 days before moving.	Same information as above	Same as above