If Orders have been entered in Colorado (or a petition regarding the children has been filed), the law prohibits one party from removing children from the state without permission of the other parent or the judge. If a parent intends to relocate, s/he must give written notice to the other parent with the location, the reason for the move, and a proposed distance parenting plan. If the parents cannot agree on where the children will reside primarily, then a judge will decide after a hearing.
A relocation does not have be a move out of state—it can even be within the state. A “relocation” is, instead, defined as any change in location that would substantially change the geographical ties to one of the parents.
If a parent wishes to move a child to a new location as part of the initial custody determination, the court is required to accept where each party states they are planning to live, then make appropriate parenting time decisions which are in the best interest of the children. This pre-decree standard is used before there is any initial order regarding the parenting responsibilities. If a parent wishes to move a child to a geographically significant distance from the other parent after the initial orders are entered, a different—and more difficult—post-decree standard is applied by the judge.