Child Relocation Laws in Oregon

By Michael G. Romano | Last updated: September 10, 2026 | Reviewed by Michael G. Romano, Managing Attorney

If you have a custody or parenting time judgment in Oregon, you can’t move more than 60 miles farther from your child’s other parent without giving notice. That’s the rule, and it catches people constantly. The other parent can then ask the court to stop the move, and whether you’re allowed to go comes down to one question: what’s in your child’s best interests.

I’ve handled these cases on both sides for 26 years in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas County Circuit Courts. They’re among the hardest cases in family law, and they’re common. A parent gets a job offer in Seattle. A parent remarries. A parent needs to be near an aging mother in Bend. The reasons are usually real and usually sympathetic. So is the other parent’s objection, because a move that makes sense for one household can quietly dismantle the other parent’s relationship with the child.

What Oregon Law Requires Before You Move

Every Oregon custody and parenting time judgment must include a provision barring either parent from moving more than 60 miles farther from the other parent without reasonable notice to that parent and a copy of the notice filed with the court (ORS 107.159).

Three things follow from that language, and people get all three wrong.

First, the trigger is 60 miles farther from the other parent, not 60 miles from your current house. A move from Gresham to Hillsboro crosses the metro area and might not trigger anything. A move from Portland to Salem probably does. Measure the change in distance between the two parents, not the distance you’re driving.

Second, the statute says “reasonable notice,” not a fixed number of days. Most Oregon judgments specify a period, and 60 days is common. If your judgment specifies one, that’s what controls. Read your judgment. Don’t rely on what someone told you happened in a different county.

Third, notice goes to the court as well as the other parent. Telling your co-parent and skipping the court filing isn’t compliance.

There’s an exception. A parent can ask the court, by motion and for good cause, to suspend the notice requirement. That matters in cases involving abuse, where telling the other parent where you’re going is itself the danger. If that’s your situation, talk to a lawyer before you file anything, and look at whether a restraining order under Oregon’s Family Abuse Prevention Act belongs in the same conversation.

Reasons a Judge Will Deny Relocation in Oregon

Notice is the procedural half. The substantive half is what happens when the other parent objects, and that’s where these cases are won and lost.

Oregon courts decide relocation on the best interests of the child, using the same factors that govern custody generally (ORS 107.137). In practice, judges deny relocation for a recognizable set of reasons:

• The move would gut the other parent’s relationship with the child. This is the most common ground, and courts have grown noticeably more reluctant to put geography between a child and an involved parent.
• The relocating parent shows up without a workable long-distance parenting plan. If you can’t tell the judge exactly when the other parent sees the child, who pays for the flights, and how video contact works in between, you’re asking the court to solve a problem you haven’t solved.
• The stated reason doesn’t hold up. A vague job prospect, an unconfirmed offer, or a story that keeps changing invites the inference that the move is about the other parent rather than the opportunity.
• The move looks retaliatory. Timing matters. A relocation announced three weeks after a custody ruling reads differently than one announced after a documented promotion.
• The child has real ties here. School, therapist, siblings, a grandmother two miles away, a sport the kid has played since he was six.
• The parent ignored the notice requirement. Moving first and asking later is the worst position to litigate from, and it can cost you custody.

How to Win a Child Relocation Case

The parent who wins is usually the one who treated the move as a case to be proven instead of a decision to be announced.

If you want to move, bring specifics. A written offer, not a conversation. Named schools, not “better schools.” A parenting plan showing exactly what the other parent gets and what it costs. And evidence that you’ve supported the other parent’s relationship with your child in the past, because a judge deciding whether you’ll honor a long-distance plan is going to look hard at how you handled the local one.

If you want to stop a move, the mistake I see most often is arguing your own inconvenience. The court isn’t deciding what’s fair to you. Document what your child actually loses. Show what your involvement has been in concrete terms, and show what the proposed plan reduces it to. If the other parent’s schedule offer is thin, say so with numbers: this plan cuts my time with my daughter from 140 overnights to 34.

Either way, move fast. Deadlines in these cases are short, and a parent who waits can find the move accomplished before the court ever rules. Relocation almost always travels with a custody and parenting time modification, and often a change in child support, since parenting time and travel expense both feed the calculation.

Moving Out of State With No Custody Order

If there’s no judgment at all, ORS 107.159 doesn’t apply, because the statute works through provisions the court puts into an order. That doesn’t make the move safe. The other parent can file for custody and ask the court to order your child returned, and a parent who already left is starting that case from a bad position. If you’re unmarried, or your case isn’t final, get advice before you go instead of after.

Frequently Asked Questions

How far can I move with my child in Oregon?

If a custody or parenting time judgment applies to you, you can’t move more than 60 miles farther from the other parent without reasonable notice to that parent and to the court (ORS 107.159). The 60 miles measures the increase in distance between the two parents, not the distance from your current home.

How much notice do I have to give before relocating?

The statute requires reasonable notice rather than a set number of days. Most Oregon judgments specify a period, commonly 60 days, and if yours does, that period controls. Read your own judgment before you plan around any particular number.

Can the other parent stop me from moving?

They can ask the court to. Once you give notice, the other parent can object and ask for a hearing, and the judge decides based on the child’s best interests. The court can allow the move, deny it, or allow it with a modified parenting plan that changes custody or parenting time.

What if I move without giving notice?

You’ve violated a provision of your judgment, and the court can hold you in contempt. Judges also read an unauthorized move as evidence about your willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent, which is a custody factor. It’s the worst position to litigate from.

Can I move out of state with my child if there’s no custody agreement?

ORS 107.159 operates through provisions in a court judgment, so it doesn’t govern where no order exists. The other parent can still file for custody and ask the court to order your child returned. If you’re unmarried or your case isn’t finalized, get advice before you leave Oregon.

Does relocation change child support?

Often, yes. A long-distance parenting plan usually shifts the number of overnights each parent has, and travel costs have to be allocated somewhere. Both feed into the Oregon child support calculation, so a granted relocation frequently comes with a support modification.

Talk to a Portland Child Relocation Attorney

Relocation cases turn on preparation and they move quickly. I’ve tried these cases on both sides in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas County Circuit Courts, and the outcome usually tracks which parent showed up with evidence instead of assertions.

Call 503-208-5529 or schedule a consultation to talk through your situation. Related reading: Oregon family law and Oregon divorce.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice, and doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship. For help with a specific case, contact an attorney. Additional resources: the Oregon State Bar’s public information on custody and parenting time, the Multnomah County Circuit Court, and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.