Parents who divorce or separate have to share parental rights and responsibilities. Doing so generally requires regular communication and face-to-face interactions. Parents have to share information about their children’s health and schooling. They also need to see one another when the children move between homes.
Decisions made by either parent can potentially make it harder to share parental rights and responsibilities. For example, one parent might decide to relocate and take the children with them. Doing so could disrupt a family’s parenting plan, and therefore pre-approval is often necessary.
What are the rules about parental relocations?
Any move that is far enough away to complicate transitions between households requires pre-approval. Under Illinois state statutes, moves that are 25 miles or 50 miles away from the child’s current primary residence generally require approval. Those living in Lake County are among those subject to the 25-mile rule, while those in rural areas can relocate up to 50 miles away from their current residence within the state without pre-approval.
The parent proposing the relocation typically needs to secure the consent of the other parent or the approval of the family courts before moving with the children. A modification of the order allocating parental rights and responsibilities is typically necessary when one parent moves a significant distance away or out of the state.
Parents worried about preserving their parental rights can contest relocation requests and ask the courts to review their case carefully. The same can be said for those proposing a relocation. Learning more about the rules that apply when parents share parental rights and responsibilities can help people better understand how to respond in difficult scenarios, such as a proposed relocation.