Developmental issues in relocation cases involving young children: when, whether, and how?

Abstract

Many divorced parents seek the court's permission each year to move their children to a new location away from their other parents. Such moves stress and often disrupt psychologically important parent-child relationships, and this may in turn have adverse consequences for children. This article discusses the development of attachment relationships in infants and toddlers and the ways in which relocation is likely to affect young children of different ages; recent trends in judicial decisions regarding relocation; factors to consider when deciding whether or not to permit relocation; ways of promoting long-distance relationships between young children and their non-moving parents; and implications for legal policy and clinical practice.