Family Law

Custody Relocation and Move-Away Cases, Montana

A job offer in another state, a remarriage, a family member who needs care. Good reasons to move do not automatically mean you can take the children with you.

Written by

Ashley Hurlbert, Partner, A&M Law

Licensed Montana attorney and co-founder of A&M Law. 18 years of experience as lead counsel in 50+ jury and bench trials. A Certified Mediator and Certified Guardian ad Litem focusing on family law, criminal defense, and DUI defense.

18 yearsReviewed by Misty GaubatzLast reviewed: August 12, 2026

Relocation cases are among the hardest matters in family law, because there is frequently no arrangement that gives everyone what they need. A parent has a real opportunity in another state. The other parent has a real relationship with the children that distance will change. Both things are true at once, and a court cannot split the difference geographically.

This page is written for the parent who needs to move. If you are the parent trying to prevent a move, our page on keeping your kids in Montana addresses your side of it.

Start With Notice, Not With the Moving Truck

Under MCA § 40-4-217, a parent who intends to change a child's residence in a way that materially affects the other parent's contact must give written notice, typically by certified mail. The other parent can then object and ask the court to decide before the move occurs.

We want to be direct about this, because it is the single most consequential thing on this page: do not move first.Parents with genuinely compelling reasons, a real job offer, a spouse's military transfer, a parent who needs care, have severely damaged their own cases by leaving and explaining afterward. It invites an emergency filing, it can result in an order returning the child, and it tells the judge deciding your parenting plan something about your judgment that is very hard to walk back.

The Court Is Not Grading Your Reason

Parents often arrive convinced the case turns on whether their reason for moving is good enough. It generally does not. A contested relocation is decided on the best interests of the child (MCA § 40-4-212), which means the court is looking at the child's needs, stability, and relationships, not auditing your motives.

Practically, that reframes what you should be preparing. The parent who arrives with a detailed, realistic plan for how the child maintains a genuine relationship with the other parent after the move is in a much stronger position than the parent who arrives with a better reason for going.

What a Workable Long-Distance Plan Contains

The usable question in most of these cases is not yes or no. It is what does the parenting plan become. A plan that actually survives contact with real life addresses:

Extended blocks during summer and school breaks, replacing frequent short visits.
Travel cost and logistics. Who pays, who flies with a young child, which airport.
Scheduled video and phone contact that is protected rather than left to goodwill.
Holiday rotation rebuilt for distance instead of adapted from the old schedule.
A fallback for cancelled flights, illness, and schedule collisions, so every disruption is not a new dispute.
Support adjustments, since travel costs and changed parenting time can both affect the calculation.

There Is Often a Better Path Than a Hearing

Contested move-away hearings are expensive, slow, and leave one parent feeling the outcome was done to them. That resentment tends to show up later in every handoff and every schedule change.

When both parents are willing to work through it together, a relocation they built themselves almost always holds up better. That is the premise of our cooperative family lawpractice, where A&M Law serves as a neutral for the process rather than as an advocate for either parent. It is not right for every situation, and we will tell you honestly if yours is one where it is not.

Talk to Us Before You Commit

The best time to call is before you accept the position or sign the lease, while the timeline is still yours to shape. Call 406-830-3060.

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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I just move if I have primary parenting time?

No, and this is the assumption that causes the most damage. Having the majority of parenting time does not give you unilateral authority to relocate a child in a way that materially affects the other parent's contact. Montana requires written notice under MCA § 40-4-217, and the other parent has the right to object and ask a court to decide before the move happens. Moving first and seeking permission afterward puts you in the worst possible posture.

What happens if I move without giving notice?

You risk an emergency filing, an order requiring the child's return, and lasting damage to your credibility in front of the judge who will be deciding your parenting plan. Courts take the notice requirement seriously because it exists to prevent exactly that scenario. Even parents with excellent reasons for moving have badly undermined their own case by skipping this step.

How does a court decide whether the move is allowed?

Through the best interests of the child standard (MCA § 40-4-212). That means the court is not grading whether your reason for moving is sympathetic. It is weighing the child's needs, stability, relationships with both parents, adjustment to home and school, and what each proposed arrangement would actually look like. A well-supported plan showing how the child keeps a real relationship with the other parent matters more than the strength of your motivation.

My co-parent objected. Does that stop the move?

An objection does not automatically block you, but it does mean a court will decide rather than the two of you. What follows is a hearing where both proposed arrangements are examined. Many of these matters resolve before that point, because once both parents see what litigation costs and what a judge is actually weighing, a negotiated long-distance schedule often looks better than the risk.

What does a long-distance parenting plan look like?

Usually a redistribution rather than a reduction: less frequent regular contact, offset by longer blocks during summer and school breaks, plus structured video and phone contact. The details that get overlooked are the practical ones, including who pays for travel, who accompanies a young child, how holidays alternate, and what happens when a flight is cancelled. Those details are where these plans succeed or fail.

Can we work this out without going to court?

Often, yes, and it is usually the better outcome. A relocation that both parents have shaped tends to hold up far better than one imposed after a contested hearing, because both of them have a stake in making it work. If you and your co-parent are both willing to work through it together, our cooperative family law approach may be a better fit than litigation.

Planning a Move With Your Children?

Talk to us before you accept the offer or sign the lease. Call 406-830-3060 to understand what the move actually requires.

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