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Legal Information: Alabama

Custody

Updated: 
September 1, 2023

Can the non-relocating parent object to my plan to relocate my child?

If the custodial parent plans to move the child’s primary residence for longer than 45 days, s/he has to send the required notice to the non-relocating parent. The non-relocating parent can then go to court to object to the planned move and can ask the judge to make an order preventing the move. (Non-parents who are entitled to visitation cannot “object” to the move but they can petition the court for a modification in their visitation rights.) Generally, the objection by the non-relocating parent has to be filed within 30 days of when s/he receives notice of the planned move.1

Unless the non-relocating parent has been found to have committed domestic violence or child abuse, the judge will assume that moving is not in the best interest of the child. So the custodial parent will have to prove to the judge that it is in the child’s best interests to move if the non-relocating parent objects.2

However, the non-relocating parent cannot object to a move if both of the following are true:

  1. the child will be staying in the state; and
  2. after the move, the child would be:
    • within 60 miles of the non-relocating parent; or
    • closer to the non-relocating parent.3

1 Alabama Code § 30-3-169.1(a), (b), (c)
2 Alabama Code § 30-3-169.4​
3 Alabama Code § 30-3-162(b)