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Parenting Time & Schedules

How Far Apart Can Parents Live for 50/50 Custody?

No state caps distance for 50/50 custody. Learn the relocation thresholds by state, how schedules limit distance, and when a move reopens custody.

Best for the Children Editorial·11 min read·January 15, 2026·Updated October 22, 2026

You've found a place you like, or a better job across the county, and then you start doing the math. How long is the drive to the school? Who handles Wednesday pickup? Would a judge still sign off on equal time? Here's the short answer. No U.S. state sets a maximum distance for 50/50 custody. Two limits matter instead. The first is legal: most states set a relocation distance, usually somewhere between 20 and 150 miles, and crossing it triggers formal notice or court review. The second is practical: you can only live as far apart as your schedule and your child's school day allow.

Why there's no single magic number

Part of the confusion comes from the term "50/50" itself. Many people treat it as a legal category, but it often isn't one. California's Family Code § 3004 defines joint physical custody as each parent having "significant periods of physical custody" to assure frequent and continuing contact. It does not require a mathematically equal split. So a court can award joint physical custody without the calendar coming out exactly even.

Other states have moved closer to a true equal-time default:

  • Kentucky created a rebuttable presumption in 2018, under KRS 403.270, that joint custody and equally shared parenting time are in the child's best interests. A parent can overcome it with a preponderance of the evidence, and it doesn't apply where there's a domestic violence order.
  • Florida amended Fla. Stat. § 61.13, effective July 1, 2023, to presume that equal time-sharing is in the child's best interests. That presumption can also be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence.

Neither law sets a distance limit. A presumption of equal time is still only a starting point. If the homes are so far apart that equal time would disrupt the child's schooling, a parent can argue the presumption should give way. That brings in the distance rules that do exist on the books.

The distances the law actually cares about: relocation thresholds

States regulate distance through relocation statutes. These laws say when a move is big enough that you must notify the other parent, or get their consent or a judge's approval. They don't say "50/50 is impossible beyond X miles." In practice, though, they mark where a move stops being your private decision.

Here's how several states draw the line:

  1. Indiana (Ind. Code § 31-17-2.2-1): You don't need to file a notice of intent to relocate if the move shortens the distance between homes, or lengthens it by 20 miles or less, as long as the child can stay in their current school. This is the most likely source of the popular "20-mile rule," but it is a notice rule, not a custody limit.
  2. Illinois (750 ILCS 5/609.2): A relocation is a move of more than 25 miles from the child's residence in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, or Will counties. Elsewhere in Illinois the line is more than 50 miles. A move out of state counts if it's more than 25 miles away. Relocation requires at least 60 days' written notice.
  3. Florida (Fla. Stat. § 61.13001): Relocation means moving your principal residence at least 50 miles from where you lived at the time of the last time-sharing order, for at least 60 consecutive days. The distance is measured in a straight line, "as the crow flies," not by road.
  4. Tennessee (Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-6-108): A parent who shares custody and plans to move out of state, or more than 50 miles from the other parent within Tennessee, must send written notice by registered or certified mail at least 60 days ahead.
  5. Michigan (MCL 722.31), the "100-mile rule": A parent under a custody order can't move the child's legal residence more than 100 miles from where the child lived when the case began. The parent needs consent or court permission, and the distance is measured in a straight line.
  6. Arizona (A.R.S. § 25-408): A parent who shares legal decision-making or parenting time and plans to move the child out of state, or more than 100 miles within Arizona, must give at least 45 days' written notice by certified mail. The other parent then has 30 days to object.
  7. Wisconsin (Wis. Stat. § 767.481): A parent planning to live with the child 100 miles or more from the other parent must file a motion to relocate. The motion needs a detailed placement and transportation plan, and the court must approve it. Unlike Florida and Michigan, Wisconsin measures by driving distance.
  8. Utah (Utah Code § 30-3-37, renumbered § 81-9-209 as of September 1, 2024): A move of 150 miles or more from the other parent requires at least 60 days' written notice. It also triggers court review of parent-time and of how transportation costs are split.

Two details are easy to miss. First, the measuring method matters. A 50-mile straight line in Florida can be a much longer drive, while Wisconsin counts the road miles. Second, the starting point varies. Michigan measures from where the child lived when the case began, and Florida measures from where you lived at the last order. Checking only your current address can give you the wrong answer.

States that skip the mileage entirely

Some states don't use a number at all, and that can make things less predictable.

  • Pennsylvania (23 Pa.C.S. § 5337) defines relocation by its effect: a move that "significantly impairs the ability of a non-relocating party to exercise custodial rights." It requires 60 days' advance notice and the consent of the parties or the court. A 15-mile move across a city with heavy traffic could qualify. A longer move that doesn't disturb the schedule might not.
  • Texas (Family Code § 153.134) requires orders naming joint managing conservators to set a geographic area where the parent who controls the child's primary residence must keep the child's home. The order can also state that there is no geographic limit. Courts often restrict the area to the child's current county and the counties next to it. In Texas, your limit is usually written into your own order, so read it before you sign a lease.
  • Nevada (NRS 125C.0065) applies when parents share joint physical custody and one wants to move out of state, or to a distant in-state location that would substantially impair the other parent's relationship with the child. The moving parent must try to get written consent. Without consent, that parent must ask the court for primary physical custody so they can relocate.

What happens when one 50/50 parent wants to move

Nevada's rule points to a key fact about equal custody: when time is truly shared, neither parent gets an automatic upper hand. California says this directly. Under its relocation case law (In re Marriage of Burgess and In re Marriage of LaMusga, applying Family Code § 7501), if parents share true joint physical custody, neither parent has a presumptive right to relocate the child. The court holds a fresh (de novo) hearing to decide custody.

In practice, a big move out of a genuine 50/50 arrangement usually isn't approved as a change of address. It reopens the custody question. The likely outcomes are:

  • one parent becomes primary and the other gets a long-distance schedule
  • the move doesn't happen

It's also worth separating relocation procedure from contempt. Moving past a statutory threshold without following the notice rules exposes you to the objection and petition process those statutes set up. Contempt is a different matter. It generally requires proof that you willfully violated a specific court order. Either way, ignoring the process weakens your position.

The distance your schedule can survive

The legal thresholds tell you when you need permission. The schedule tells you whether equal time will actually work. The common 50/50 schedules make very different demands on distance:

  • 2-2-3: The child switches homes every two or three days. That means several midweek school runs from both houses, so the homes need to be close and ideally in the same school district.
  • 2-2-5-5: Each parent keeps the same two weekdays every week, such as Monday and Tuesday for one and Wednesday and Thursday for the other, and the parents alternate five-day weekends. School routines stay consistent, but there are still midweek handoffs, so the homes need to be close enough to share transportation.
  • Alternating weeks (week on, week off): There's only one exchange a week. Transit is less disruptive, so this schedule tolerates more distance than ones with midweek school handoffs.

The deciding factor is usually the school, not the other parent's house. During the school year, a 50/50 schedule only works if the child can get to the same school from both homes on a normal weekday morning. As a rule of thumb rather than a legal standard, the useful question is how long the school commute takes from each home. If the honest answer is "too long for a seven-year-old twice a week," a judge is likely to agree. The same test applies to after-school sports or music lessons: they have to work from both homes, not just one.

When the distance is simply too far

At some point, ordinary weekly sharing stops working, and courts change the pattern of time instead of trying to force equal weeks. Section III of the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines covers this situation. When distance becomes a major barrier to regular weekly time, parenting time shifts to longer blocks around holidays and vacations. For children 5 and older, that can include up to seven weeks of summer and alternating school breaks. The total time may still be substantial, but the school year usually belongs mostly to one home.

State lines add another issue: which court decides. Under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), initial custody jurisdiction belongs to the child's "home state." That is the state where the child lived with a parent for at least six consecutive months just before the case was filed. So a parent who moves away can't simply start a new custody case in the new state, and a court in one state can't order a parent in another state to move closer. When parents live in different states, 50/50 during the school year is rarely realistic, because a child can only attend one school.

Putting it together

To work out how far apart you can live and keep equal time:

  • Find your state's relocation threshold, and check whether it's measured in a straight line or by road, and from which address.
  • Read your existing order for a geographic restriction, especially in Texas, or for any distance terms you agreed to.
  • Match the distance to the schedule. A 2-2-3 schedule needs a short commute. Alternating weeks gives you more room.
  • Start from the child's school. If both homes can't get the child there reliably, equal school-year time probably won't hold up.
  • Get consent or court approval before you move, not after. When custody is truly shared, a contested move is likely to reopen the whole custody question.

Relocation statutes and their measuring rules vary widely and change over time. Before you sign a lease or accept a job, talk to a family law attorney in your state about your specific order.

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