Custody in Oregon.
The starting point the law actually sets, what the judge has to weigh, and the deadlines that catch people out.
See a different stateOregon
There is no presumption of joint custody — in fact Oregon goes further than any other state on this list in the opposite direction. ORS 107.169(3): "The court shall not order joint custody, unless both parents agree to the terms and conditions of the order." An Oregon judge cannot impose joint custody on unwilling parents; if you do not agree, one of you gets sole custody. ORS 107.169(4) protects the other side of that: "When parents have agreed to joint custody in an order or a judgment, the court may not overrule that agreement by ordering sole custody to one parent." Parenting time is a different question and there is no presumption of equal time either — but ORS 107.102(5)(c) gives it a nudge: "In developing a parenting plan under this subsection, the court may order equal parenting time. If a parent requests that the court order equal parenting time in the parenting plan, the court may deny the request if the court determines, by written findings, that equal parenting time is not in the best interests of the child or endangers the safety of the parties." So if you ask for equal time, the judge who says no has to write down why. ORS 107.105(1)(a) also tells the court, "[w]hen appropriate," to "recognize the value of close contact with both parents and encourage joint parental custody and joint responsibility for the welfare of the children."
Use the state’s own words
Oregon says "custody" (sole or joint) for decision-making, and "parenting time" for the schedule — "visitation" survives in the statutes mainly for third parties. The controlling document is the "parenting plan." ORS 107.101 sets the state's policy: to assure children frequent and continuing contact with parents who have shown the ability to act in the child's best interests, to encourage those parents to share the rights and responsibilities of raising their children, to encourage parents to develop their own parenting plan, to grant parents and courts the widest discretion in developing one, and to consider the best interests of the child and the safety of the parties.
The short version4 points · tap one to jump to it
- How Oregon decides — Oregon does not use "legal" and "physical" custody.
- The paperwork and the people — Yes. ORS 107.102(1): "In any proceeding to establish or modify a judgment providing for parenting time with a child… there shall be developed and filed with the court a parenting plan to be included in the judgment." The plan may be general or detailed.
- Moving away — ORS 107.159, and the trigger is distance, not state lines.
- Later on — ORS 107.135(1)(a) gives the court power at any time after a judgment to "[s]et aside, alter or modify any portion of the judgment that provides for… the custody, parenting time, visitation, support and welfare of the minor children." There is no statutory waiting period.
In this subject 4
How Oregon decides
The short version4 points · tap one to jump to it
- How Oregon decides — Oregon does not use "legal" and "physical" custody.
- The paperwork and the people — Yes. ORS 107.102(1): "In any proceeding to establish or modify a judgment providing for parenting time with a child… there shall be developed and filed with the court a parenting plan to be included in the judgment." The plan may be general or detailed.
- Moving away — ORS 107.159, and the trigger is distance, not state lines.
- Later on — ORS 107.135(1)(a) gives the court power at any time after a judgment to "[s]et aside, alter or modify any portion of the judgment that provides for… the custody, parenting time, visitation, support and welfare of the minor children." There is no statutory waiting period.
In this subject 4
Decisions against where the child lives
Oregon does not use "legal" and "physical" custody. Custody is decision-making. ORS 107.169(1): "'joint custody' means an arrangement by which parents share rights and responsibilities for major decisions concerning the child, including, but not limited to, the child's residence, education, health care and religious training. An order providing for joint custody may specify one home as the primary residence of the child and designate one parent to have sole power to make decisions about specific matters while both parents retain equal rights and responsibilities for other decisions." Where the child actually sleeps is set by the parenting plan under ORS 107.102, which is a separate decision from custody.
What the judge must weigh
- The emotional ties between the child and other family members
- The interest of the parties in and attitude toward the child
- The desirability of continuing an existing relationship
- The abuse of one parent by the other
- The preference for the primary caregiver of the child, if the caregiver is deemed fit by the court
- The willingness and ability of each parent to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing relationship between the other parent and the child — however, the court may not consider this if one parent shows that the other parent has sexually assaulted or engaged in a pattern of behavior of abuse against the parent or a child and that a continuing relationship with the other parent will endanger the health or safety of either parent or the child
- ORS 107.137(2) adds that no single factor may be isolated and relied on to the exclusion of the others; ORS 107.137(3) bars the court from considering a party's disability under the ADA unless behaviors or limitations related to it endanger or will likely endanger the child; ORS 107.137(4) allows conduct, marital status, income, social environment or lifestyle to be considered only if shown to be causing or likely to cause emotional or physical damage to the child; and ORS 107.137(5) forbids any preference based solely on the gender of the parent
What the child wants
This is Oregon's quiet oddity: the child's wishes are not on the statutory list. ORS 107.137(1) enumerates six factors and none of them is the child's preference. That does not mean an Oregon judge ignores what an older child wants — the statute says the court "shall consider the following relevant factors" and courts consider other relevant circumstances too — but there is no statutory age, no statutory weight, and no statutory entitlement to be heard. If your child's views matter to your case, plan to get them in front of the court some other way, and ask a lawyer how your county handles it.
Where there has been violence or abuse
ORS 107.137(1)(d) makes "[t]he abuse of one parent by the other" a required factor, and ORS 107.137(1)(f) bars the court from holding a parent's unwillingness to promote contact against them where that parent shows the other sexually assaulted them or a child, or engaged in a pattern of abuse, and continued contact would endanger the parent or child. The presumption is in ORS 107.137(2): "if a parent has committed abuse as defined in ORS 107.705, other than as described in subsection (6) of this section, there is a rebuttable presumption that it is not in the best interests and welfare of the child to award sole or joint custody of the child to the parent who committed the abuse." Note it covers sole custody as well as joint. ORS 107.137(6) is an absolute bar rather than a presumption: the court may not award sole or joint custody to a parent convicted of rape under ORS 163.355, 163.365 or 163.375 (or a comparable law elsewhere) where the rape resulted in the conception of the child — though that denial does not relieve the parent of child support. ORS 107.105(1)(b) requires the court to deny parenting time entirely in that situation, and where it awards parenting time to a parent who has committed other abuse, to make adequate provision for the safety of the child and the other parent under ORS 107.718(6).
The paperwork and the people
The parenting plan
Yes. ORS 107.102(1): "In any proceeding to establish or modify a judgment providing for parenting time with a child… there shall be developed and filed with the court a parenting plan to be included in the judgment." The plan may be general or detailed. A general plan may outline how responsibilities and parenting time will be shared and let the parents work out details informally, but it "must set forth the minimum amount of parenting time and access a noncustodial parent is entitled to have." A detailed plan may cover the residential schedule; holiday, birthday and vacation planning; weekends and school in-service days; decision-making and responsibility; information sharing and access; relocation of parents; telephone access; transportation; and methods for resolving disputes. Under ORS 107.102(5)(a), the court must develop a detailed parenting plan if either parent requests one or if the parents cannot develop one themselves — and in doing so "the court may consider only the best interests of the child and the safety of the parties." We could not confirm the name of a statewide official parenting-plan form; the State Court Administrator prescribes the forms, so ask the court clerk for the current one.
Mediation
An orientation session is mandatory; mediation itself usually follows. ORS 107.755(1)(a) requires each judicial district to provide a mediation orientation session for all parties in cases where child custody, parenting time or visitation is in dispute, and ORS 107.755(1)(b) requires the district to "require parties in all cases described in paragraph (a) of this subsection to attend a mediation orientation session prior to any judicial determination of the issues" — with exceptions for matters tried under ORS 107.097 and 107.138 or upon a finding of good cause. ORS 107.755(1)(c) requires each district to provide mediation in any case where custody, parenting time and visitation are in dispute. There is a separate mandatory track under ORS 107.179: when one parent asks for joint custody and the other objects, the court "shall direct the parties to participate in mediation," and if after 90 days they have not resolved it, the court decides custody. On domestic violence and power imbalance: ORS 107.755(1)(d) requires every district to have a plan addressing domestic violence and other power-imbalance issues, and provides that "[n]either the existence of nor the provisions of a restraining order issued under ORS 107.718 may be mediated" and that mediation programs must recognize mediation is not appropriate for all cases. Under ORS 107.179(3), if a party moves to waive mediation on the ground that participating would subject them to severe emotional distress, the court must hold a hearing and may waive the requirement if it finds that likely.
If the court appoints someone to look into it
ORS 107.425. Under (1), the court may order an investigation into the character, family relations, past conduct, earning ability and financial worth of the parties, and "[c]osts of the investigation may be charged against one or more of the parties or as a cost in the proceedings." Under (2), the court on its own or a party's motion may order an independent physical, psychological, psychiatric or mental health examination of a party or the children, and may require any party and the children to be interviewed, evaluated and tested by an expert or panel; if the parties cannot agree on the expert, the court appoints one. On cost: "The court shall direct one or more of the parties to pay for the examination or evaluation in the absence of an agreement between the parties as to the responsibility for payment… If more than one party is directed to pay, the court may determine the amount that each party will pay based on financial ability." Under (3), the court may also appoint an individual, panel or program to help create parenting plans, monitor compliance, recommend changes, and provide problem-solving, conflict management and parenting time coordination — again with the court able to order one or more parties to pay if they cannot agree.
Moving away
What you must do before you move
ORS 107.159, and the trigger is distance, not state lines. In any court order or judgment granting custody and parenting time or visitation, "the court shall include in its order a provision requiring that neither parent may move to a residence more than 60 miles further distant from the other parent without giving the other parent reasonable notice of the change of residence and providing a copy of such notice to the court." Two things to notice: it applies to BOTH parents, not just the one the child lives with; and the statute requires "reasonable notice," not a fixed number of days, and does not require the other parent's consent or the court's advance permission. Under ORS 107.159(2), a parent can be excused from giving notice if the court, on motion and for good cause, enters an order suspending the requirement — which is the route for a parent who needs to move for safety reasons. Separately, ORS 107.164 requires both parents on a continuing basis to give each other current addresses and phone numbers and to notify the other immediately of emergencies or substantial changes in the child's health.
Later on
Changing the order
ORS 107.135(1)(a) gives the court power at any time after a judgment to "[s]et aside, alter or modify any portion of the judgment that provides for… the custody, parenting time, visitation, support and welfare of the minor children." There is no statutory waiting period. For joint custody specifically, ORS 107.169(5) states the standard: "Modification of a joint custody order shall require showing of changed circumstances and a showing that the modification is in the best interests of the child such as would support modification of a sole custody order. Inability or unwillingness to continue to cooperate shall constitute a change of circumstances sufficient to modify a joint custody order." That last sentence matters — in Oregon, joint custody that stops working is, by statute, grounds to change it. ORS 107.169(6) protects a servicemember: a temporary absence of up to 30 consecutive months caused by state active duty or federal active service as an Oregon National Guard member is not a change of circumstances. ORS 107.174 provides a simple stipulated route to modify parenting time when both parents sign. To change an existing order, see how to modify custody and parenting time in Oregon.
If you were never married
ORS 109.103(1). If a child is born to an unmarried person and parentage has been established under ORS 109.065, "either parent may initiate a civil proceeding to determine the custody or support of, or parenting time with, the child… The parents have the same rights and responsibilities regarding the custody and support of, and parenting time with, their child that married or divorced parents would have," and the custody, support and parenting time provisions of ORS 107.094 to 107.449 and the mediation provisions of ORS 107.755 to 107.795 all apply. So once parentage exists, you are in the same system — but parentage has to exist first. ORS 109.070 sets out the voluntary acknowledgment of parentage route: filing an acknowledgment form with the State Registrar of the Center for Health Statistics establishes parentage for all purposes, and the form itself must state that the acknowledgment "is the equivalent of an adjudication of parentage of the child and that a challenge to the acknowledgment is permitted only under limited circumstances."
The headline for Oregon: a judge cannot order joint custody. ORS 107.169(3) means that if you and the other parent do not both agree to joint custody, one of you will be awarded sole custody — sole decision-making authority. That surprises almost everyone, and it is why Oregon cases often turn into a fight over the custody label even when both parents will be spending real time with the child. The second thing worth knowing is that parenting time is decided separately, and if you specifically ask the court for equal parenting time, a judge who denies it has to put the reasons in writing. Third, and this catches people: the 60-mile notice rule applies to both parents. If you are the parent the child does not live with and you move 60 miles farther away, you owe notice too.
What we could not confirm
- We could not confirm the name of Oregon's official statewide parenting-plan form — the State Court Administrator prescribes it, so ask the court clerk for the current version. Also note that Oregon's best-interests statute does not list the child's preference as a factor; that is what the statute says, not an omission on our part, but how much a judge will listen to an older child is governed by court practice rather than statute, so ask a local lawyer if that matters in your case.
Compare all fifty states
Where 50/50 really is the default, and the twenty-six states where nothing is presumed.
And the money side
How Oregon calculates child support, and the overnight number that changes it.
The rest of what we have written about Oregon. Every figure is quoted from Oregon’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.