Travel and custody, state by state

The federal rules — passports, consent letters, the Hague Convention — are the same wherever you live. These are not. How much notice you owe before a move, whether your state has an abduction-prevention statute to draw on, and whether there is a standard parenting form whose wording probably ended up in your order.

Start with the federal layer

If your question is “can I get my child a passport on my own” or “do I need a notarised letter”, that is on the main travel page and the answer does not change by state.

States with the Abduction Prevention Act16 of 50 The uniform statute giving courts an explicit menu of prevention measures — passport surrender, travel bans, bonds. Most states have not enacted it.

States with a statewide parenting form28 of 50 Where one exists, its default wording is where most people’s travel clauses came from — often unchanged.

Custody jurisdiction49 of 50 Every state but Massachusetts has enacted the UCCJEA. Massachusetts runs on its own earlier act, which has no exclusive-continuing-jurisdiction provision.

Fifty states at a glance

“Notice” here means a relocation notice period set by statute — a dash means the state sets none, which usually means you need permission rather than merely giving warning. It is not the notice you owe before a holiday; that comes from your own order.

State	Abduction Prevention Act	Relocation notice	Triggered by	Statewide form
Alabama	Yes	45 days	60 miles – §§ 30-3-169.1 to 30-3-169.7 do not apply to a change of the child’s principal residence to a residence 60 miles or less from the non-relocating parent entitled to custody or visitation, or where the change puts the child nearer to the non-relocating parent, UNLESS the change results in the child living in a different state (Ala. Code § 30-3-162(b)). Any out-of-state move is covered regardless of distance.	No
Alaska	No	—	None. Alaska has no relocation statute, so there is no statutory mileage threshold and no out-of-state trigger.	Yes
Arizona	No	45 days	More than 100 miles within Arizona, or any relocation of the child outside the state	No
Arkansas	No	—	None. Arkansas has no relocation statute, so there is no statutory mileage threshold, no out-of-state trigger and no statutory notice period.	No
California	No	45 days	None. California’s notice provision is triggered by DURATION of the change of residence (more than 30 days), not by mileage or by crossing a state line.	Yes
Colorado	Yes	—	None. Colorado’s trigger is qualitative: relocation “to a residence that substantially changes the geographical ties between the child and the other party.” There is no mileage figure and no state-line rule in the statute.	No
Connecticut	No	—	None. The trigger is qualitative, not geographic: the statute applies to a relocation ‘where such relocation would have a significant impact on an existing parenting plan’. There is no mileage threshold and no out-of-state requirement.	Yes
Delaware	No	—	Dual trigger, and neither part is a mileage figure: (a) a move outside the State of Delaware, OR (b) a move that materially affects the current custodial and residential arrangement or order. Both are further gated by a DURATION threshold – the proposed relocation must be ‘for a period of 60 days or more’.	Yes
Florida	No	—	50 miles, combined with a 60-consecutive-day duration test	Yes
Georgia	No	30 days	None identified. Georgia’s notice is tied to a CHANGE OF RESIDENCE, not to a distance or a state line. The statewide parenting plan form imposes it on ‘A parent changing residence’ with no mileage qualifier and no in-state/out-of-state distinction.	Yes
Hawaii	No	—	—	No
Idaho	No	—	None. Idaho has no relocation statute, so there is no statutory mileage threshold, no out-of-state trigger and no statutory notice period.	Yes
Illinois	No	60 days	Tiered, and it is the county the child currently lives in that decides which tier applies: more than 25 miles for a move within Illinois FROM a current primary residence in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry or Will County; more than 50 miles for a move within Illinois from a primary residence in any other Illinois county; and more than 25 miles for a move to a residence outside Illinois. All distances are “measured by an Internet mapping service using surface roads,” and where alternative routes are offered “the alternative route that is the shortest distance shall be used.”	Yes
Indiana	No	30 days	No mileage threshold triggers the duty to give notice. Notice must be filed with the court only where the move increases the distance between the parents’ homes by more than 20 miles or changes the child’s school; a move that reduces the distance, or increases it by 20 miles or less and lets the child stay in the same school, need not be filed with the court.	Yes
Iowa	No	—	150 miles or more from the child’s residence at the time custody was awarded	No
Kansas	Yes	30 days	None. Any change of the child’s residence triggers the notice duty, regardless of distance. A separate trigger applies to removing the child from Kansas for more than 90 days.	No
Kentucky	No	—	—	No
Louisiana	Yes	60 days	Out of Louisiana (any distance), OR more than 75 miles within Louisiana. Miles are ‘measured by the shortest distance that is publicly accessible by motor vehicle or by a public ferry, where applicable, from the principal residence of a child to the new intended principal residence.’	No
Maine	No	30 days	None. Any intended relocation of the child triggers the notice duty, regardless of distance or whether the move crosses a state line.	No
Maryland	No	90 days	None. The notice covers an intent to relocate the permanent residence of the party or the child ‘either within or outside the State’ — no mileage threshold.	Yes
Massachusetts	No	—	Out of the Commonwealth. Section 30 is triggered by removing the child ‘out of this commonwealth’ – there is no mileage figure, and an in-state move of any distance is outside the statute.	No
Michigan	Yes	—	More than 100 miles from the child’s legal residence at the time the action commenced. There is no advance-notice period in days – Michigan requires consent or a court order, not notice.	Yes
Minnesota	No	—	Out of state. The statute is triggered by moving ‘the residence of the child to another state’ – there is no mileage figure, and a move anywhere within Minnesota is outside subdivision 3.	Yes
Mississippi	Yes	—	—	No
Missouri	No	60 days	None. There is no mileage threshold and no state-line requirement. The trigger is duration, not distance: § 452.377.1 defines ‘relocate’ as ‘a change in the principal residence of a child for a period of ninety days or more, but does not include a temporary absence from the principal residence.’ A move across town for 90+ days requires the same 60-day certified-mail notice as a move to another country.	Yes
Montana	No	30 days	None — but there IS a functional trigger, and it is qualitative, not geographic. § 40-4-217(1) imposes a bare written-notice duty on any parent ‘who intends to change residence,’ with no timing attached and no distance floor. The 30-day formal machinery in § 40-4-217(2) engages only ‘If a parent’s change in residence will significantly affect the child’s contact with the other parent.’ There is no mileage figure and no state-line requirement anywhere in the section; whether a move ‘significantly affects’ contact is decided on the facts. A move across Montana that wrecks a mid-week schedule can trigger the 30-day motion; a move out of state that changes nothing about contact arguably does not.	Yes
Nebraska	Yes	—	—	Yes
Nevada	Yes	—	Out of state, OR a move within Nevada ‘to a place within this State that is at such a distance that would substantially impair the ability of the other parent to maintain a meaningful relationship with the child.’ There is no mileage figure in the statute — the in-state trigger is functional, judged by the effect on the other parent’s relationship with the child.	Yes
New Hampshire	No	60 days	No mileage figure. New Hampshire uses two carve-outs instead of a distance threshold, plus a residency threshold. RSA 461-A:12, I: the section ‘shall not apply if the relocation results in the residence being closer to the other parent or to any location within the child’s current school district.’ RSA 461-A:12, II: it applies only ‘to the relocation of any residence in which the child resides at least 150 days a year.’ So the trigger is: a move that is neither closer to the other parent nor within the same school district, of a residence where the child spends at least 150 days a year. A cross-country move within one large school district is exempt; a move a few miles across a district line is not.	Yes
New Jersey	No	—	Out of the jurisdiction of New Jersey — the state line, not a mileage figure. And the statute reaches only children who ‘are natives of this State, or have resided five years within its limits.’ An intrastate move, however far, is not governed by N.J.S.A. 9:2-2 at all.	No
New Mexico	Yes	30 days	A change of ‘home city or state of residence.’ No mileage figure. Note the unusual breadth: the trigger is a change of CITY, so a move from Albuquerque to Rio Rancho is covered while a long move within one city is not.	Yes
New York	No	—	—	No
North Carolina	Yes	—	—	No
North Dakota	Yes	—	out of state – the statute is triggered by changing the child’s residence “to another state,” not by any number of miles. The only mileage figure in the section is in an exception, not a trigger.	Yes
Ohio	No	—	none – the trigger is any move to “a residence other than the residence specified in the parenting time order or decree,” with no mileage threshold and no in-state/out-of-state distinction	No
Oklahoma	Yes	60 days	over 75 miles from the child’s principal residence, for 60 days or more	Yes
Oregon	No	—	more than 60 miles further distant from the other parent	Yes
Pennsylvania	Yes	60 days	none – Pennsylvania uses a functional test, not miles. 23 Pa.C.S. § 5322(a): “‘Relocation.’ A change in a residence of the child which significantly impairs the ability of a nonrelocating party to exercise custodial rights.” A move of two miles can be a relocation and a move of two hundred miles may not be.	No
Rhode Island	No	—	none – Rhode Island has no relocation statute	No
South Carolina	No	—	none – South Carolina has no relocation-notice statute; 100 miles appears only as a best-interest factor	Yes
South Dakota	Yes	45 days	none – no mileage trigger; the trigger is any change of principal residence, with an exception for a move within the child’s current school district	Yes
Tennessee	No	—	more than 50 miles from the other parent, or outside the state (per the Tennessee General Assembly’s own bill summary of present law)	No
Texas	No	—	none – Texas has no relocation-notice statute; geographic restrictions come from the individual order under § 153.134(b)(1)	Yes
Utah	Yes	60 days	150 miles or more from the residence of the other parent	Yes
Vermont	No	—	none – Vermont has no relocation statute	No
Virginia	No	30 days	none – the duty is triggered by any intended relocation or change of address, at any distance	No
Washington	No	60 days	school district, not miles. The 60-day formal notice regime applies to a move OUT of the school district in which the child currently resides the majority of the time; a move WITHIN that school district requires only “actual notice by any reasonable means” and cannot be objected to.	Yes
West Virginia	No	90 days	none – no mileage threshold and no in-state/out-of-state line. § 48-9-403(a) makes a parent’s relocation a substantial change in circumstances “when it impairs either parent’s ability to exercise responsibilities that the parent has been exercising, or when it impairs the schedule of custodial allocation that has been ordered by the court.”	Yes
Wisconsin	No	—	100 driving miles or more from the other parent	Yes
Wyoming	Yes	30 days	change of home city or state of residence – no mileage threshold. Note this is a notice-of-address duty imposed on BOTH parents by the visitation order, not a relocation-permission trigger.	No

Pick your state

Sources last checked30 August 2026

Page published30 August 2026

What this means. This is when the sources on this page were last read against their originals — statutes, court rules, official schedules — taken from the date this page was built from its sources. It is not the date the page was last edited. Adding a link or fixing a typo does not move it; re-reading the statute does. Law changes without notice, so treat anything time-sensitive as needing a fresh check. Where we get something wrong we publish it at thecusp.app/corrections with the date, what changed, and how long the error was live.