Minnesota Statue § 518.175, subd. 3a states, “The parent with whom the child resides shall not move the residence of the child to another state except upon order of the court or with the consent of the other parent, if the other parent has been given parenting time by the decree.”
The Statue goes on to state, “If the purpose of the move is to interfere with parenting time given to the other parent by the decree, the court shall not permit the child’s residence to be moved to another state.” The Court analyzes several difference factors in assessing whether or not it will allow a parent to move to another State and those factors are found in Minnesota Statute § 518.175 subd. 3b (1-8).
The Statute also clearly lays the burden of proof upon the parent who is requesting to move the residence of the minor child(ren) to another State; except that if the Court finds that the person who is requesting permission to move has been a victim of domestic abuse by the other parent, under those circumstances, then the burden of proof is upon the parent opposing the move.
As can be seen by the Statue, a parent with sole physical custody (known as the custodial parent) is not allowed to move out of State with the minor child(ren) without either the permission of the other parent or a further Court Order (if a prior Order has been issued giving the non-custodial parent parenting time).
Interestingly enough, this is not necessarily applicable to an in-State move. I have seen situations where a parent moves from southern Minnesota to northern Minnesota and the Court does not apply the same standard that would apply if a parent were to move from Saint Paul, Minnesota to Hudson, Wisconsin (which is approximately twenty to twenty-five miles away). In my opinion, a mileage perimeter may be a better determiner than an out-of-State vs. in-State, for how it should impact a custodial parent’s ability to relocate with a minor child(ren).
If you would like to discuss this topic further, please contact one of the attorneys at Alithis Family Law, LLC.
