Moving with your children: what Colorado law asks first

When the relocation rules apply

The statute's relocation provisions are written for the parent with whom the child resides a majority of the time who wants to move with the child to a residence that "substantially changes the geographical ties between the child and the other party." The statute does not set a mileage number; whether a move substantially changes those ties depends on the facts.

If that does not describe your family, for example if time is split equally or the other parent is the one moving, how the court approaches the move depends on your orders and your facts. That is a question to bring to a lawyer.

C.R.S. § 14-10-129(1)(a)(II) and (2)(c). Read the statute.

Written notice comes first

The parent who intends to relocate must give the other parent written notice as soon as practicable. The notice must include:

• The intent to relocate
• The location where the parent intends to live
• The reason for the relocation
• A proposed revised parenting time plan

A court hearing on a modification of parenting time because of an intent to relocate is given priority on the court's docket.

C.R.S. § 14-10-129(1)(a)(II) and (2)(c). Read the statute.

What the court weighs

The court decides whether changing parenting time for the move is in the child's best interests. It must take into account all relevant factors, including whether a party has committed an act of domestic violence, has engaged in a pattern of domestic violence or has a history of domestic violence. That factor must be supported by a preponderance of the evidence, and the court considers the domestic violence whether it happened before or after the prior decree. The court also considers all the best-interest factors in section 14-10-124(1.5)(a), and these relocation factors:

1. The reasons the parent wants to relocate with the child
2. The reasons the other parent objects
3. The history and quality of each parent's relationship with the child since any previous parenting time order
4. The educational opportunities for the child where the child lives now and at the proposed new location
5. Whether extended family is present at the current location and at the new one
6. Any advantages of the child remaining with the primary caregiver
7. The anticipated impact of the move on the child
8. Whether the court will be able to fashion a reasonable parenting time schedule if the change is permitted
9. Any other relevant factors bearing on the child's best interests

C.R.S. § 14-10-129(2)(c)(I) to (IX). Read the statute. In 2026, House Bill 26-1309 reworded the introductory part of subsection (2)(c); the nine factors did not change.

Two rules that work differently in a move

• Restrictions. Ordinarily the court will not restrict a parent's parenting time unless it finds the parenting time would endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair the child's emotional development. The statute says that rule does not apply in these relocation cases.
• The two-year wait. Once a motion has been filed for a substantial change in parenting time that also changes which parent the child lives with most of the time, a later motion generally cannot be filed within two years after the earlier motion is decided, unless the court finds an exception based on affidavits. One exception is that the majority-time parent intends to relocate with the child in a way that substantially changes the child's ties to the other parent.

C.R.S. § 14-10-129(1)(b) and (1.5). Read the statute.

While a divorce is still pending

If your divorce or legal separation case is still open, Colorado's automatic court orders, listed on the summons, say not to take the children out of the state without the other parent's permission or a court order.

Source: Colorado Judicial Branch, JDF 1012 Summons.

The court's forms

Colorado's official parenting plan form, JDF 1113, has its own section on moving, which reminds parents that a move of significant distance requires a new parenting plan and the court's permission. Our form walkthrough covers it. The court's Change Parenting Time page lists the forms used to change a schedule, including JDF 1406, Motion to Change/Restrict Parenting Time, and JDF 1423, a stipulation used when both parents agree.

Sources: JDF 1113 Parenting Plan; Change Parenting Time; JDF 1406 (Colorado Judicial Branch).

Building a long-distance plan

The statute asks whether the court can fashion a reasonable schedule after the move, so a workable proposal matters. Questions a long-distance plan usually has to answer:

• Where the children go to school, and how the school year is split
• How much of summer and each school break the other parent has. Try the planner's summer option, such as alternating two-week blocks, to see the year
• Who travels with the children, how, and who pays
• Which holidays alternate and how travel days count
• Regular phone or video time, with set days and times
• How the distant parent stays involved in school, activities and medical care

Use the planner to lay out a full year and download it to your calendar before you propose it.

More from the firm

The firm's relocation guide and guide to changing orders at longmont.law go further.

We checked the 2024 Colorado Revised Statutes on the Colorado General Assembly site and the 2025 and 2026 session laws for later changes to section 14-10-129. Statutes change; confirm the current text before relying on it.