Moving Away With Your Child: Florida Relocation Law in the 14th Judicial Circuit
By Justin Andersson, Esq. | Justin Andersson, P.A., Panama City
For parents in Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and Washington Counties who want to move with a child, or want to stop a move
Maybe the job offer finally came through. Maybe it’s PCS orders out of Tyndall, a new spouse with a job three states away, or a chance to move home to family who can actually help with the kids.
Or maybe you’re on the other side, and you just found out your child’s other parent wants to move.
Let’s be honest: this is one of the hardest fights in family law, because there’s rarely a middle ground. A child can’t go to two schools four hours apart.
Florida’s law here is strict. Here’s how it works in our 14th Judicial Circuit, whichever side you’re on.
What counts as a "relocation"
A relocation is a change in a parent’s principal residence (main home) of at least 50 miles that lasts at least 60 consecutive days. The distance is measured from where that parent lived when the last order establishing or modifying time-sharing was entered, or when the pending time-sharing case was filed. A temporary absence for vacation, education or the child’s health care doesn’t count.
- In-state moves count. There's no in-state exception.
- It's about each parent's own move. The statute covers a move by "a parent or other person," not just the parent with the kids most of the time, and at least one Florida appeals court has applied it to a parent with less time-sharing.
- Others with court-ordered time-sharing count. A grandparent with court-ordered time-sharing, for example, must sign any relocation agreement or be served with the petition.
Two questions are not clearly settled for our region: how the 50 miles is measured (straight line or road miles), and how the 60 days are counted for a stay that isn’t vacation, school or health care, like a long work assignment. Near the line? Get advice first.
A move under 50 miles isn’t a “relocation,” but it isn’t automatically risk-free. Florida appeals courts have disagreed about whether a shorter move can support changing time-sharing. And once a family case in our circuit is filed (for the other parent, once served), the 14th Circuit’s standing family law order says neither parent may permanently move the children from their current residence, or change their usual school or daycare, without both parents’ written agreement or a court order, whatever the distance.
When the statute applies
It applies to any order about a child’s parenting plan or time-sharing, temporary or permanent, entered on or after October 1, 2009, and to moves made while a time-sharing case is pending. Older orders are covered too, unless their own terms expressly govern relocation; then those terms control.
No case and no order yet? The First District Court of Appeal, whose decisions bind our circuit, has held that a move made before any time-sharing case is filed isn’t a “relocation.” (Unmarried parents: our paternity guide explains how the 2023 natural guardian changes bear on a move before any case is filed.) That isn’t a free pass:
- A judge setting time-sharing later still applies Florida's ordinary best-interest factors, including each parent's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other parent. But our appeals court has held the judge can't fault a parent for skipping the court permission or consultation the relocation statute would have required.
- A Florida court can still set a parenting plan when a child was taken out of Florida mainly to avoid the court.
- Florida can generally make the first custody decision if it was the child's "home state" (where the child lived with a parent for at least six consecutive months) within the six months before filing, and a parent still lives here. If you're the parent left behind, file promptly.
Option 1: A written agreement
If both parents, and everyone else entitled to time-sharing or access with the child, agree to the move, they can satisfy the statute with a signed written agreement that:
- Shows consent to the relocation;
- Sets a time-sharing schedule for the parent staying behind (and anyone else entitled to time-sharing); and
- Describes transportation arrangements, if needed.
Miss a piece and the agreement can’t be relied on to move. It must be in place before the move, and if there’s already a case, judgment or order, the parties must ask the court to ratify (approve) it. No evidentiary hearing is needed unless a party requests one in writing within 10 days after it’s filed. If nobody does, the move is presumed to be in the child’s best interest, and the judge may approve it without a hearing.
Pro Tip: A text that says “fine, go,” a handshake at the ballfield or a verbal OK is not a relocation agreement. Get it in writing with all three pieces, and get the judge’s approval before the moving truck shows up.
Option 2: A petition to relocate
Without a compliant agreement, the parent who wants to move must file a petition to relocate and serve it on the other parent and everyone else with time-sharing. It must be signed under oath, under penalty of perjury, and include:
- The new address (state, city and street, if known), any different mailing address, the home phone, if known, and the move date
- A detailed statement of the specific reasons, with any written job offer behind the move attached
- A proposed long-distance time-sharing schedule and transportation plan. Without it, the petition is legally insufficient, unless a current, valid order already limits or ends the other parent's time-sharing or other good cause existed before the petition.
- A capital-letter notice that a written objection must be filed and served within 20 days after service, or the move will be allowed without a hearing unless it isn't in the child's best interests
In a pending case, service can follow the court rules; otherwise, it’s service under Florida’s service of process statutes (Chapters 48 and 49) or certified mail, restricted delivery, return receipt requested. The mover must keep the information updated.
If you have a legal right to keep your address confidential, tell your lawyer first; the court can modify the disclosure requirements to honor a public records exemption. If you’re in danger, call 911 or the Florida Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-500-1119.
Our appeals court is strict here. In a case about a move between two Florida towns, it held that a hand-delivered, unsworn “notice of intent to relocate” is not a petition.
Pro Tip: The long-distance schedule is the heart of the petition. Spell out who books travel, who pays, where exchanges happen, and how holidays and summers work.
If you object: the 20-day clock
Your written objection must be filed with the court and served on the moving parent within 20 days after you’re served. It must be verified (sworn) and include the specific facts behind your reasons for opposing the move, plus a statement of how involved you’ve been in your child’s life.
Bring facts, not adjectives: who handles drop-offs, practices, doctor visits and homework, and how much of your time-sharing you actually use. And keep paying court-ordered support; your payment record is one of the factors.
Once a timely objection is filed, the other parent may not relocate without the court’s permission at a temporary hearing or trial.
If nobody objects in time, the move is presumed to be in the child’s best interest, and absent good cause the court must enter an order adopting the petition’s proposed schedule and transportation plan, possibly without a hearing. “Absent good cause” means a missed deadline isn’t always fatal. Don’t test it.
Temporary relocation and the fast-track deadlines
Relocation cases get priority on the court’s calendar. Absent good cause, a motion for temporary relocation must be heard within 30 days after it’s filed, and a nonjury trial must happen within 90 days after a notice to set the case for nonjury trial is filed. In practice, ask early for enough hearing time.
A judge may allow a temporary move only if the petition was properly filed and meets all the petition requirements, and the evidence at a preliminary hearing shows the move is likely to be approved at the final hearing, on the same facts a final judgment would need. Our appeals court has held that without a proper petition, there’s no temporary relocation. The judge may also require reasonable security, financial or otherwise, to protect the other parent’s court-ordered contact.
Two more rules:
- A court-approved temporary relocation gets no weight at the final hearing. Winning round one doesn't win the case.
- The judge can block a move or order the child returned if the petition doesn't comply, the child was moved without a written agreement or court approval, or the move likely won't be approved at trial.
How the judge decides
When a contested move would materially affect the current schedule, there is no presumption for or against relocation. Not for moms, dads or the parent with more overnights.
The moving parent goes first and must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not), that the move is in the child’s best interest. If that burden is met, it shifts to the objecting parent to show the move isn’t.
The judge must evaluate every one of these factors, for temporary and permanent requests alike:
- The child's relationships with each parent, siblings and other important people
- The child's age and needs, and how the move will affect the child physically, educationally and emotionally
- Whether a long-distance schedule can realistically preserve the relationship with the parent left behind, and whether the mover will follow it once out of the court's reach
- The child's preference, considering age and maturity
- Whether the move improves quality of life for both the mover and the child
- Each side's reasons for seeking or opposing the move
- Each parent's job and finances, and whether the move is needed to improve the mover's finances
- Whether the move is sought in good faith, and how well the objecting parent has kept up with child support, alimony and other financial obligations to the moving parent
- Career and other opportunities for the objecting parent
- Any history of substance abuse or domestic violence by either parent
- Any other best-interest factor, including Florida's general time-sharing factors (see our Florida time-sharing guide)
Also worth knowing:
- Video calls can't carry the case. Electronic communication can't be the sole deciding factor, and it supplements in-person time rather than replacing it.
- Today's facts, not predictions. Florida's appeals courts have held that the decision must rest on the evidence at the hearing, not guesses about the future.
- New cases are less settled. In a brand-new divorce or paternity case, Florida's 2023 equal time-sharing presumption is also in play, and how it fits with the relocation statute's "no presumption" rule hasn't been clearly settled. Get advice on that one.
If the move is approved, the judge must, where applicable, spell out how transportation costs are split and may adjust child support for them.
Moving without an agreement or court approval
Packing the moving truck first and asking permission later ages about as well as shrimp left on the dashboard in August.
An unauthorized move can lead to contempt, an order returning the child (temporarily or permanently), the move being counted against you in the relocation decision or a later parenting plan change, and paying the other parent’s attorney’s fees, costs and travel expenses.
None of that is automatic. Contempt and return are up to the judge, and the move is one factor, not an automatic loss. But in our region, a parent who moves without a proper petition can’t count on temporary permission to stay.
Where there’s a credible risk a child will be taken out of state or out of the country, the court can require both parents’ notarized written permission (or a court order) before the child leaves Florida, a passport surrender or a bond. Our enforcement and contempt guide covers contempt in more detail.
DO:
- Get a complete, signed written agreement (approved by the court if there's a case or order) or a court order on your sworn petition before you move
- Calendar the 20-day objection deadline the day you're served
- Come to the hearing with specifics: schools, schedules, travel costs and who pays
DON’T:
- Move first and ask later
- Rely on a text, a verbal OK or a "notice of intent" letter
- Stop paying court-ordered support while you fight about the move
Military families and PCS orders
The relocation statute has no special exception for service members, so PCS orders don’t let you skip it. Florida’s deployment law expressly says it doesn’t apply to a permanent change of station (PCS) move; the relocation statute governs PCS moves. So a PCS move that meets the 50-mile, 60-day test goes through the same agreement-or-petition process as any other relocation. Start early.
The deployment law covers a different situation: a movement or mobilization of less than 18 months under orders that are designated unaccompanied, don’t authorize dependent travel, or otherwise don’t permit family members to come along. Confirm which law fits your orders before you report. Under that law, a court may not consider a parent’s past or possible future deployment in deciding the child’s best interest.
Coming home matters too: if the parents lived more than 50 miles apart when the last order establishing time-sharing was entered and one parent moves within 50 miles of the other, that move may count as a substantial and material change for modifying time-sharing, as long as the change is in the child’s best interests. Our military divorce guide for the 14th Circuit goes deeper.
Moving out of Florida: why Florida usually keeps the case
Move to Georgia or Alabama, and the case usually doesn’t move with you.
Once a Florida court has made a custody order, Florida keeps exclusive, continuing jurisdiction (the sole power to decide future custody questions) even after a parent and child move away. That lasts until a Florida court finds that the child, the parents and anyone acting as a parent no longer have a significant connection with Florida and that substantial evidence about the child’s care is no longer available here, or a court finds that the child, both parents and anyone acting as a parent no longer live in Florida. Our appeals court has held that a Florida court can decline that jurisdiction in favor of another state only by following the statute’s inconvenient-forum procedure, which requires weighing specific factors. So if the other parent still lives in Bonifay or Port St. Joe, expect future disputes to generally come back to Florida.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, if it meets the 50-mile, 60-consecutive-day test. There's no in-state exception.
Not the relocation statute itself, which our appeals court has held doesn't apply to a move made before any time-sharing case is filed. The judge setting time-sharing will still apply the ordinary best-interest factors, and Florida's power to hear the case can depend on timing, so file promptly.
Twenty days after you're served, with a written, sworn objection that is filed and served and includes specific facts and your involvement in your child's life.
Not yet. If the other parent files a timely objection, you need the court's permission first, at a temporary hearing or trial. If no one objects in time, you still need the court's order allowing the move. Moving before then risks an order to bring the child back.
Generally not in our region. Our appeals court has rejected provisions letting a parent relocate later without meeting the statute, and provisions that automatically change time-sharing if a parent moves someday.
Final Thought
Relocation cases are hard because both parents usually have a real reason. One wants a better life somewhere else. The other wants to stay an everyday parent, not a holiday parent. The law doesn’t pick a side ahead of time. It asks what’s best for your child, based on facts you can prove.
If you’re planning a move, or you’ve just been served with a petition, let’s talk before the clock runs.
You’ve got this. And I’ve got your back.
Justin Andersson, Esq.
Your 850 Divorce Lawyer
Justin Andersson, P.A. | 435 W. Oak Avenue, Panama City, FL 32401
Serving Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and Washington Counties, in person or by video.
Questions? Call (850) 871-7397 or visit www.850divorcelawyer.com.
This article is general information about Florida law as it applies in the 14th Judicial Circuit as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every relocation case turns on its own facts.
Florida law referenced: Sections 61.13, 61.13001, 61.13003, 61.45, 61.503, 61.514, 61.515, 61.520, 61.703, 61.713 and 61.773, and Chapters 48 and 49, Florida Statutes; Fourteenth Judicial Circuit Administrative Order 2022-00-07.