WomensLaw serves and supports all survivors, no matter their sex or gender.

Hotline

Custody & Kidnapping

V asks if father can prevent her moving? (no custody order)

In general, if a father’s legal paternity has been established, he may be able to go to court at any time to file for visitation or custody. Furthermore, as part of a visitation or custody proceeding, often times, a parent who fears that the other parent will take a child out of state can ask the judge to issue an order against the other parent to prevent the parent from taking the child out of state until the issue can be heard in court. In these cases, often, there will then be a court hearing where both parent present their desires to the judge (one parent asking for permission to move, the other parent asking the judge to deny permission) and the judge will decide whether or not allow the move.

Also, in general, even if a parent doesn’t file anything in court and the other parent moves, the parent may be able to file for the next 6 months in the state the child used to live in. The state where a child last lived for the past 6 consecutive months is generally the child’s “home state” and if the state that has jurisdiction (power) over any custody/visitation issues.

If you want to find out for sure in your situation whether or not a court would allow the father to file something to prevent your move, you may want to talk to a lawyer in STATE to get advice. We have links to lawyer, some of which may be free, here: LINK

Also, in case the father does file for custody or visitation rights in court, we have some basic information about custody in STATE that may be useful:LINK

© 2008–2024 WomensLaw.org is a project of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, Inc. All rights reserved. This website is funded in part through a grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this website (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided). NNEDV is a 501©(3) non-profit organization; EIN 52-1973408.