What do I do if I want to move abroad permanently with my child?
First, you must seek agreement from the other parent. If the other parent will not agree to the move, then you will need to apply to the court for permission to take your child permanently to live abroad. This type of application is called an application for “leave to remove from the jurisdiction”. The court’s primary concern will be the best interests of the child concerned. The court will usually grant permission if you have a carefully considered plan and your reason for moving is not simply to prevent the other parent from having contact with the child. The court will also consider the impact of the proposed move on the parent left behind.
It is important that your plan includes details of where you intend to live with the child, the school you intend to enrol the child in and other important areas, such as health provision for the child. It is also important that you include well thought out and realistic proposals for contact between the child and the other parent. These proposals might include offers to assist with the cost of travel for contact.
What is the position if I want to move permanently to live in another part of England?
Sometimes a primary carer may wish to move not abroad, but at a considerable distance from the original home (eg, a move from Newcastle to Plymouth). Again, the court’s main concern is the welfare of the child involved. The court applies the same principles as if the move were a permanent one abroad, although in a less stringent way.
What is the position if I simply want to take my child on a holiday abroad?
Where one parent wishes to take a child out of the country on holiday, it is always preferable for the written permission of the other parent to be obtained and for that written permission to be kept with the child’s passport in the event of the immigration authorities questioning whether the child should be taken abroad.
The strict legal position is that a person in whose favour a residence order has been made does not require the written consent of others with parental responsibility or the permission of the court to take a child out of the jurisdiction for less than one month. If the other parent refuses permission unreasonably, an application may be made to the court for permission.
Where there is no residence order in place (as is usually the case), where there is a shared residence order in place or the holiday period involved is more than one month, in the absence of the other parent’s consent, you will need to make an application to the court for leave to remove the child from the jurisdiction for the purposes of a holiday. It would be rare for the court to refuse such an application.
Where a child’s parents are not married, the position with regard to holidays abroad will depend upon whether or not the child’s father has parental responsibility. An unmarried father is able to acquire parental responsibility by entering into a parental responsibility agreement, by order of the court or, where the child was born after 1 December 2003, his name is on the child’s birth certificate as the child’s father and he was present when the birth was registered. Where an unmarried father does not have parental responsibility, his consent will not normally be required before a mother can take a child on holiday, although such consent may be advisable where he has regular contact.