ODDS OF WINNING A RELOCATION CASE IN COLORADO

There is no published win rate for relocation cases in Colorado, and any lawyer who quotes you one is guessing. Colorado law gives neither parent an advantage at the outset of a relocation dispute.

What decides these cases is the evidence each parent puts in front of the judge on a defined list of statutory factors. That is genuinely good news for a parent who prepares early, because the outcome is driven by the record you build rather than by a presumption you have to overcome.

This page explains the two different legal standards that apply depending on when you move, the notice you owe the other parent, the factors the court weighs, and the mistakes that sink otherwise strong cases.

HOW COLORADO RELOCATION CASES WORK

Colorado stopped using the word "custody" in its dissolution statutes on February 1, 1999. The current terms are parental responsibilities, which covers both parenting time and decision-making responsibility.

People still search for "custody," and this page uses the word where it helps. The legal analysis, though, runs on the statutory terms, and the standard that applies to your case depends entirely on one question: have permanent orders already entered?

Before Permanent Orders: The Spahmer Rule

If parental responsibilities have never been allocated, the court is making an initial determination under C.R.S. 14-10-124. The relocation statute does not apply.

In Spahmer v. Gullette, the Colorado Supreme Court held that in an initial allocation the court has no statutory authority to order a parent to live in a specific location. The court must accept the location where each party intends to live and then allocate parental responsibilities in the child's best interests.

In practice, the judge treats your intended move as a given and decides where the child should live in light of it. The court cannot order you to stay in Colorado. It can decide the child stays.

After Permanent Orders: The Ciesluk Rule

Once a parenting time order exists, a majority-time parent who wants to move to a residence that substantially changes the geographic ties between the child and the other parent falls under C.R.S. 14-10-129.

This is where the "odds" question usually comes from, and where the most persistent myth lives. Colorado used to apply a three-part test from In re Marriage of Francis that presumed the majority-time parent could move. The legislature abolished that test effective September 1, 2001.

In In re Marriage of Ciesluk, the Colorado Supreme Court confirmed the presumption is gone. Both parents share equally the burden of demonstrating how the child's best interests will be affected by the proposed move.

Ciesluk is worth reading closely for a second reason. The trial court in that case required the mother to show the move would "enhance" the child, and the Supreme Court held that was error. Enhancement was a leftover from the Francis test that the legislature chose not to carry forward.

You do not have to prove the move will make your child's life measurably better. You have to put specific, non-speculative evidence in front of the judge about the proposed living conditions and a concrete revised parenting plan.

What Counts As Relocation

The statute does not use mileage. The test is whether the new residence substantially changes the geographic ties between the child and the other parent.

A move across the state line can qualify. So can a move within Colorado that wrecks a midweek parenting schedule or changes the child's school district. The analysis is fact-specific.

One useful consequence of falling under the relocation statute: C.R.S. 14-10-129(1)(b)(II) confirms that the endangerment standard does not apply to these cases. A reduction in the other parent's time caused by a relocation is not treated as a restriction on parenting time.

WHAT THE COURT MUST CONSIDER

In a post-decree relocation case the judge must weigh two sets of statutory factors, plus any evidence of domestic violence. Nothing on either list is a tiebreaker, and the court is not required to make a separate finding on every single one.

The Nine Relocation Factors

C.R.S. 14-10-129(2)(c) lists nine factors specific to relocation:

The reasons the moving party wishes to relocate with the child.
The reasons the opposing party objects to the proposed relocation.
The history and quality of each party's relationship with the child since any previous parenting time order.
The educational opportunities for the child at the existing location and at the proposed new location.
The presence or absence of extended family at the existing location and at the proposed new location.
Any advantages of the child remaining with the primary caregiver.
The anticipated impact of the move on the child.
Whether the court will be able to fashion a reasonable parenting time schedule if the change is permitted.
Any other relevant factors bearing on the best interests of the child.

Factor six deserves a note, because it is regularly misread. Being the primary caregiver is one factor the court weighs, not a presumption in your favor. Ciesluk is explicit that the court must begin with both parents on equal footing.

The Best Interests Factors

On top of the nine, the court applies the parenting time factors in C.R.S. 14-10-124(1.5)(a). Those include the wishes of the parents, the wishes of the child if the child is sufficiently mature to express reasoned and independent preferences, the child's interaction with parents and siblings, the child's adjustment to home, school and community, the mental and physical health of everyone involved, each parent's willingness to encourage the child's relationship with the other parent, the past pattern of involvement, the physical proximity of the parties as it affects the practical side of parenting time, and each party's ability to put the child's needs first.

Colorado sets no age at which a child gets to choose. The statutory test is maturity, not birthdays. A thoughtful eleven year old may be heard where a fifteen year old repeating a parent's talking points is not.

A 2024 amendment also directs courts not to weigh information or recommendations that are biased, including bias based on religion, gender, sexual orientation, culture, race, ethnicity, national origin or disability.

Domestic Violence, Child Abuse And Coercive Control

The relocation statute requires the court to consider whether a party has committed an act of domestic violence, engaged in a pattern of domestic violence, or has a history of domestic violence, supported by a preponderance of the evidence. The court considers that evidence whether the conduct occurred before or after the prior decree.

Colorado's definitions were expanded in 2024. "Coercive control" is now a defined statutory term covering patterns such as isolating a person from friends and family, controlling their finances or movements, monitoring their communications, and threats made as a method of control.

Where child abuse, neglect, domestic violence or sexual assault is claimed, C.R.S. 14-10-124(4) requires the court to address those findings before it works through the ordinary best interests factors. Safety is the paramount consideration.

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THE NOTICE REQUIREMENT

A parent who intends to relocate with the child to a residence that substantially changes the geographic ties must give the other parent written notice. The statute requires four things in that notice:

The intent to relocate.
The location where the party intends to reside.
The reason for the relocation.
A proposed revised parenting time plan.

On timing, be careful of what you may read elsewhere. Colorado's statute does not set a fixed number of days. It requires written notice "as soon as practicable."

That said, many parenting plans contain their own notice deadlines, often 30 or 60 days, negotiated by the parties and adopted by the court. If your parenting plan has one, it binds you. Read your orders before you rely on the statutory language alone.

Giving notice early is almost always the better strategy regardless of the deadline. A parent who provides a detailed, workable revised parenting plan months ahead of a move reads very differently to a judge than one who gives notice two weeks before the truck arrives.

THE LEGAL PROCESS FOR RELOCATION

Notice alone does not authorize the move. If the other parent does not agree, you need a court order.

Filing The Motion Or Stipulation

You file in the same court that issued the original parenting time order, using the same case number and the same party designations. The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes the forms on its Relocating Minor Children self-help page.

JDF 1407 is the Motion or Stipulation to Relocate Minor Children. You check the Stipulation box if both parents agree and the Motion box if they do not.
JDF 1425 is the proposed Order. You complete only the caption and the court fills in the rest.
JDF 1315 is the Response, used by a parent objecting to the move.
JDF 1400 contains the instructions for the packet.

A filing fee applies. If you cannot pay it, JDF 205 and JDF 206 let you ask the court to waive it.

Relocation hearings get priority on the court's docket by statute, which is a meaningful advantage in a busy district like El Paso County. Even so, plan on months rather than weeks between filing and hearing.

One timing trap worth knowing: C.R.S. 14-10-129(1.5) generally bars a second motion to substantially modify parenting time within two years of the last one. An intended relocation is one of the recognized exceptions to that bar.

Evidence That Carries Weight

Ciesluk sets the evidentiary bar plainly. The parent proposing the move must present specific, non-speculative information about the child's proposed new living conditions along with a concrete plan for revised parenting time.

Vague intentions do not satisfy that standard. A signed offer letter, a named school with enrollment confirmed, an address, and a parenting plan with dates and transportation costs assigned all do.

Evidence that tends to matter includes the existing parenting time order, school and healthcare records at both locations, documentation of each parent's day to day involvement, information about extended family support at both ends, and a revised parenting plan that specifies holidays, school breaks, travel arrangements and who pays for them. Where the move changes the parenting time split significantly, expect a child support recalculation as well.

The objecting parent has work to do too. Under Ciesluk, a parent who does not contest the move itself but disagrees with the proposed schedule is responsible for putting forward an alternative parenting plan of their own. Simply saying no is a weak position at Moran, Allen & Associates Family Law and in front of a judge alike.

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WHAT MAKES A RELOCATION CASE HARD TO WIN

These are among the most contested matters in Colorado family law, for a structural reason. Unlike most disputes, there is often no compromise available. The child cannot live in Colorado Springs and Phoenix at the same time.

Opposition From The Other Parent

Factor two puts the objecting parent's reasons squarely before the court. A parent who has been consistently involved, exercises their parenting time, and can articulate concrete harm from the move is in a strong position.

Factor eight is frequently decisive. If the distance makes a workable schedule impossible, the court may conclude the child should stay even where the moving parent's reasons are entirely legitimate.

Judicial Discretion

Trial courts have wide discretion here, and appellate courts review only for abuse of that discretion. Two judges can reach different conclusions on similar facts without either being reversed.

The court must disclose its reasoning and make specific findings on the statutory factors. That requirement is also the main avenue of appeal, since a court that creates a presumption for or against relocation, or imports an enhancement requirement, has misapplied the law.

Moving Without Permission

This is the single most damaging mistake a parent can make, and it is worth being precise about the consequences.

Failing to give the statutory notice is not itself a crime. Moving the child in violation of an existing parental responsibilities order is a different matter. It can support a contempt citation, an emergency motion for return of the child, and a motion by the other parent to modify parenting time, and the court is entitled to weigh that conduct when it assesses each parent's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other parent.

In some circumstances it also carries criminal exposure. Under C.R.S. 18-3-304, violating a court order allocating parental responsibilities with the intent to deprive the other party of custody or care of the child is a class 5 felony. Removing the child from the country in the course of that offense is a class 4 felony.

Intent to deprive is an element, so not every unauthorized move is charged. It is a risk no parent should take when the alternative is filing a motion.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What are my odds of winning a relocation case in Colorado?

Colorado does not publish outcome statistics, and no honest answer exists in percentage form. Neither parent starts with a presumption, so the result turns on how each parent's evidence lines up against the nine relocation factors and the best interests factors.

How far do I have to move before it counts as relocation?

There is no mileage threshold. The question is whether the new residence substantially changes the geographic ties between the child and the other parent, which can include moves within Colorado.

How much notice do I have to give?

The statute requires written notice as soon as practicable and does not set a specific deadline. Check your parenting plan, because many contain a negotiated notice period that applies to you.

Can I move with my child without going to court?

Only if the other parent agrees, and you should still document that agreement through a stipulation and order. If a parenting time order exists and the other parent objects, you need court approval before you move the child.

Does it matter that I am the primary caregiver?

It is one of the nine statutory factors, so yes, it matters. It is not a presumption in your favor, and a court that treats it as one has misapplied the statute.

Can the court order me to stay in Colorado?

No. In an initial allocation the court must accept where each parent intends to live. In a post-decree case the court decides whether the child may go with you, not whether you may move.

What if the other parent moved without telling me?

Act quickly. Depending on the orders in place, options can include an emergency motion for return of the child, a contempt citation, and a motion to modify parenting time. Speak with a family law attorney before the new arrangement has time to become the child's status quo.

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TALK TO A COLORADO SPRINGS RELOCATION ATTORNEY

Relocation cases reward preparation. The parent who arrives with a documented plan, verified details about the new location, and a realistic proposal for keeping the other parent involved is the parent giving the court something it can work with.

Moran, Allen & Associates Family Law handles relocation matters in El Paso County and Teller County, on both sides of the dispute. Call to schedule a consultation and talk through where your case stands.

Author

Michael T. Allen

Partner at Moran, Allen & Associates

Colorado Bar # 51125

When a family is facing a legal crisis, clients need more than legal knowledge. They need a lawyer who is prepared, steady under pressure, and honest about the road ahead. My experience as a felony prosecutor helps me evaluate difficult cases and advocate effectively, while my family law practice keeps the focus where it belongs - on the people whose lives will be shaped by the outcome.

Last reviewed: September 14, 2026

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Odds Of Winning A Relocation Case In Colorado