How to Modify Child Custody in Oregon
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Oregon · Last updated October 7, 2026
Oregon measures a relocation in additional miles, never in days. ORS 107.159 orders every custody and parenting time judgment to carry a provision barring either parent from moving more than 60 miles further distant from the other parent without reasonable notice to that parent and a copy to the court. The section names no day count. Modifying child custody in Oregon means asking the circuit court that entered your judgment to change its custody or parenting time terms because something significant has changed since then. No Oregon statute makes you wait: ORS 107.135(1) lets the court act at any time after a judgment, and ORS 107.431(1) says the same for parenting time. What Oregon does instead is split the threshold. The Oregon Judicial Department modification motion asks you to explain how circumstances have changed significantly since the prior judgment in its custody section only. Its parenting time section asks for your proposed plan instead, and ORS 107.102(5)(b) limits a court developing a parenting plan to the child's best interests and the parties' safety. Custody factors come from ORS 107.137(1), where the child's own wishes are not a listed factor. Your case then opens ex parte: you file an Ex Parte Motion for Order to Show Cause re: Modification of Judgment with a supporting declaration, and a judge reads it before the other parent is served. A denial means no hearing gets scheduled. The fee is $167 under ORS 21.205(1), and the responding parent owes $167 as well. Keep following your current judgment until a supplemental judgment replaces it. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Oregon
What is prompting the change to your custody order?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
How do I modify a child custody order in Oregon?
File an Ex Parte Motion for Order to Show Cause re: Modification of Judgment and Declaration in Support in the circuit court that entered your judgment, under the same case number. A judge reads it before anyone is served and either signs or denies the show cause order. The fee is $167 (ORS 21.205(1)).
Is there a waiting period to modify custody in Oregon?
No. ORS 107.135(1) permits the circuit court to set aside, alter or modify custody and parenting time at any time after a judgment, and ORS 107.431(1) opens with the same words for parenting time. Scans of ORS chapters 107 and 109 turn up no waiting period and no time bar.
How much notice must an Oregon parent give before moving with a child?
ORS 107.159 states no number of days. It requires reasonable notice to the other parent plus a copy to the court, and only once a move puts that parent more than 60 miles further distant than before. A judge may suspend the duty for good cause on an ex parte motion.
Which court changes a custody order in Oregon?
The circuit court that entered the judgment you want changed, filed under the same case number with the original party labels. Oregon runs no separate family court. ORS 109.103(1) sends unmarried parents to circuit court too and applies ORS 107.094 to 107.449 to their custody and parenting time case.
Oregon custody modification at a glance
Changing child custody in Oregon means asking the circuit court that entered your existing judgment to change its custody or parenting time terms because something significant has changed since then. Nothing makes you wait, because ORS 107.135(1) allows the court to act at any time after a judgment. Two features then set Oregon apart. First, a relocation is measured in additional miles rather than in days. ORS 107.159 requires every custody and parenting time order to forbid a move more than 60 miles further distant from the other parent without reasonable notice, and the section carries no day count. Second, the threshold splits by the relief you want. The Oregon Judicial Department motion demands a changed circumstances explanation in its custody section only, while ORS 107.102(5)(b) limits a court developing a parenting plan to the child's best interests and the parties' safety.
An Oregon parent who already lives a long way off
Suppose your Oregon judgment is two years old, you live in Bend, the other parent lives in Portland, and a promotion would move you to Redmond. Because the two homes already sit far apart, the Redmond move adds well under 60 miles of separation, so ORS 107.159 does not switch on, although your own judgment may add terms of its own. What you really need is a parenting time change to fit a new shift roster. You pull the Modification Request packet, file the ex parte motion and declaration in the circuit court that signed the judgment, and pay the $167 set by ORS 21.205(1). The parenting time section asks for your proposed plan, not a changed circumstances narrative. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.
Relevant Laws
ORS 107.135 (vacation or modification of judgment)
Provides that the court may at any time after a judgment of dissolution, annulment or separation, on the motion of either party and after service under ORCP 7, set aside, alter or modify any portion dealing with custody, parenting time and visitation. Subsection (14) gives the party served 30 days to file a written response.
ORS 107.159 (notice of change of residence)
Requires the court to include in any custody and parenting time order a provision that neither parent may move to a residence more than 60 miles further distant from the other parent without giving that parent reasonable notice and filing a copy with the court. Subsection (2) allows a good cause order suspending the duty.
ORS 107.137 (factors considered in determining custody)
Directs the court to give primary consideration to the child's best interests and welfare and lists six factors, including emotional ties, the desirability of continuing an existing relationship, abuse of one parent by the other, and the preference for a fit primary caregiver. The child's own wishes are not a listed factor.
ORS 21.205 (motion fees in domestic relations cases)
Sets a $167 fee payable by the party filing a motion that seeks entry of a supplemental judgment and by the party responding to it, with a separate $56 fee for an expedited parenting time enforcement motion under ORS 107.434. ORS 107.843 makes a supplemental judgment the only route to altering the judgment.
Oregon Judicial Department: forms for modification of custody and parenting time
The state forms center page that publishes the Modification Request and Modification Response packets, a separate military deployment packet, and the instruction form describing the Ex Parte Motion for Order to Show Cause, the show cause review, service, and the closing supplemental judgment.
Regional Variances
Oregon custody modification levers at a glance
Waiting period before you may file
None. ORS 107.135(1) authorises the court to act at any time after a judgment, and ORS 107.431(1) opens with the same words for parenting time. Chapter wide scans of ORS 107 and ORS 109 return no waiting period, no filing bar and no heightened showing keyed to elapsed time.
Standard for a custody change
Change of circumstances plus the child's best interests. ORS 107.169(5) states that test in the statute for a joint custody order and says a sole custody order is modified on the same footing. Best interests runs on the six factors in ORS 107.137(1), which subsection (2) forbids a court from applying one factor at a time.
Standard for a parenting time change
Lower on the face of the statute and the form. ORS 107.102(5)(b) limits a court developing a parenting plan to the child's best interests and the parties' safety, and ORS 107.174(1) requires the court to order a stipulated parenting time change on a signed stipulation. The official motion asks for no changed circumstances narrative here.
Relocation notice
No day count anywhere. ORS 107.159(1) requires reasonable notice to the other parent plus a copy to the court. The trigger is a move more than 60 miles further distant from the other parent, so what matters is the added separation between the two homes, not the distance travelled or any mileage from the child's school.
Relocation mechanism
File and inform, with notice running to both the other parent and the court. There is no lead time, no objection window, no signature requirement and no permission gate. The other parent's route is a separate ORS 107.135 motion, and ORS 107.159(2) lets a judge suspend the notice duty for good cause on an ex parte motion.
Court
The circuit court that entered the judgment, under the same case number and with the original petitioner and respondent labels. Oregon has no separate family court. ORS 109.103(1) brings unmarried parents into circuit court as well and applies ORS 107.094 to 107.449 to their custody and parenting time case.
Forms
Statewide and official, but unnumbered. The Oregon Judicial Department publishes a Modification Request packet for the filing parent and a Modification Response packet for the other, plus a separate packet for a modification driven by military deployment. The charging paper is the Ex Parte Motion for Order to Show Cause re: Modification of Judgment.
Filing fee
$167 under ORS 21.205(1), and the responding parent owes the same $167. The circuit court fee schedule effective January 1, 2026 prints that figure against the same statute, so the published schedule and the statute agree. A deferral or waiver application is available if you cannot pay.
Procedural screen
An ex parte review before service, applied to every modification motion. The judge reads the motion and declaration and signs or denies an Order on Motion to Show Cause, and a denial means no hearing is scheduled. ORS 107.103 separately lets each presiding judge run a conference before any hearing.
Child's wishes
No age and no maturity test. The six factors in ORS 107.137(1) do not include the child's wishes, and the words wishes, mature and maturity appear nowhere in ORS chapter 107. The preference in paragraph (e) is a preference for the child's primary caregiver where the court deems that caregiver fit.
Suggested Compliance Checklist
Work out the added separation in miles
Before you plan any move days after startingWrite down the distance between the two homes today and the distance after the proposed move. ORS 107.159 turns on more than 60 miles of added separation, so an identical move can fall inside the notice duty for one family and outside it for another. Then read what your own judgment adds.
Date the facts that changed since your judgment
Before you file days after startingCollect dated proof of what has shifted since the judgment was signed: school records, rosters, medical notes, messages. ORS 107.135(13) tells the court it may consider any fact about the child and the parties arising after the last custody judgment. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.
Pick the right Oregon Judicial Department packet
Before drafting days after startingUse the Modification Request packet from the state forms center. Do not mix it with the Modification Response packet, and if either parent is being deployed, switch to the separate military deployment packet, which the Modification Request instructions tell you to use instead.
Draft the ex parte motion and declaration
As soon as your evidence is dated and assembled days after startingComplete the Ex Parte Motion for Order to Show Cause re: Modification of Judgment and Declaration in Support. State custody changes and parenting time changes in their own sections, and check the relocation box only if you want the 60 mile notice duty suspended for good cause.
File with the circuit court clerk and pay $167
Before you attempt any service days after startingFile with the clerk of the circuit court that entered your judgment, using the same case number. Pay the $167 set by ORS 21.205(1), or file the application and declaration for deferral or waiver of fees. Serving before filing means re-serving and paying service costs again.
Serve the show cause order and file proof
After the judge signs the show cause order days after startingIf the judge grants the Order on Motion to Show Cause, serve that order together with the motion and declaration on the other parent, then file proof of service. If the judge denies it, nothing changes in your judgment and no hearing is set.
Track the 30 day response window
30 days after service days after startingORS 107.135(14) requires the party served to file a written response with the court within 30 days after service. If nothing is filed and no hearing was set, you may submit a supplemental judgment whose terms match your motion exactly, or you will have to start again.
Get the supplemental judgment signed
At the end of the case days after startingORS 107.843 makes a supplemental judgment the only way to alter your existing judgment, so nothing is final until one is entered. Keep following the current judgment up to that moment, because departing from it on your own is an enforcement problem that can count against you.
| Task | Description | Document | Days after starting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work out the added separation in miles | Write down the distance between the two homes today and the distance after the proposed move. ORS 107.159 turns on more than 60 miles of added separation, so an identical move can fall inside the notice duty for one family and outside it for another. Then read what your own judgment adds. | - | Before you plan any move |
| Date the facts that changed since your judgment | Collect dated proof of what has shifted since the judgment was signed: school records, rosters, medical notes, messages. ORS 107.135(13) tells the court it may consider any fact about the child and the parties arising after the last custody judgment. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft. | - | Before you file |
| Pick the right Oregon Judicial Department packet | Use the Modification Request packet from the state forms center. Do not mix it with the Modification Response packet, and if either parent is being deployed, switch to the separate military deployment packet, which the Modification Request instructions tell you to use instead. | - | Before drafting |
| Draft the ex parte motion and declaration | Complete the Ex Parte Motion for Order to Show Cause re: Modification of Judgment and Declaration in Support. State custody changes and parenting time changes in their own sections, and check the relocation box only if you want the 60 mile notice duty suspended for good cause. | - | As soon as your evidence is dated and assembled |
| File with the circuit court clerk and pay $167 | File with the clerk of the circuit court that entered your judgment, using the same case number. Pay the $167 set by ORS 21.205(1), or file the application and declaration for deferral or waiver of fees. Serving before filing means re-serving and paying service costs again. | - | Before you attempt any service |
| Serve the show cause order and file proof | If the judge grants the Order on Motion to Show Cause, serve that order together with the motion and declaration on the other parent, then file proof of service. If the judge denies it, nothing changes in your judgment and no hearing is set. | - | After the judge signs the show cause order |
| Track the 30 day response window | ORS 107.135(14) requires the party served to file a written response with the court within 30 days after service. If nothing is filed and no hearing was set, you may submit a supplemental judgment whose terms match your motion exactly, or you will have to start again. | - | 30 days after service |
| Get the supplemental judgment signed | ORS 107.843 makes a supplemental judgment the only way to alter your existing judgment, so nothing is final until one is entered. Keep following the current judgment up to that moment, because departing from it on your own is an enforcement problem that can count against you. | - | At the end of the case |
Frequently Asked Questions
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