VIRGINIA Part 81

If you want to take your children out of state for a long period of time (i.e., move out of state), look to your custody order to see if it prohibits taking the children out of state.  Custody orders in VA are supposed to include a condition that if either parent wants to move, s/he give the other parent and the court 30 days advance written notice of the intended move.  The notice has to include the intended change of address, unless the judge says you do not have to provide your address.*  Note: You may want to get advice from an attorney as to whether or not you have to file a copy of the 30-day notice with the court, whether or not you should take any other steps to keep a record of sending the notice (for example, whether or not you should send it return-receipt requested), etc.  Upon receiving the notice, the other parent may object to your intended move, especially if it would interfere with his/her time with the children.  In that case, you may have to ask the court to change the order to allow you to move and to modify the visitation schedule so that the move will not violate the other parent's visitation order.