Are you thinking of moving abroad with your children after your separation or divorce? If so, don’t leave the UK with your children until you know how UK laws on child relocation overseas will affect you.
Taking your children abroad to live after a separation or divorce
If you want to take your children to live overseas after your separation or divorce you can only make the move if:
- You have the written agreement of every other person with parental responsibility for your children or
- You have a family court order giving you permission to take your children abroad to live.
What happens if you take children overseas without the other parent’s agreement or court order?
If you leave the UK with your children for the purposes of relocation to a new country, and you don’t have the other parent’s agreement or a court order, you risk child abduction proceedings. This can involve family law and separate criminal proceedings.
In the family law child abduction court proceedings, the court could order that the children are returned to the UK straight away and any children court proceedings to decide which parent the children should live with, and whether the children should be allowed to live overseas or not, would take place in the UK. That is provided that:
- The country you took the children to is a signatory of the Hague Convention and
- There are no exceptions to the general rule that children should be returned to the UK rather than allow court proceedings to determine custody and contact to take place in the country you moved to with the children.
Does a parent have to have contact or pay child support to be able to oppose a move overseas?
Children law solicitors understand that parents find it incomprehensible that a parent can be tied to the UK as the parent can’t move without their children and their ex-partner won’t agree to their relocation abroad, despite that parent not having contact or paying child support. However, if the other parent has parental responsibility, they have the right to object to the move overseas. That is the case even if you have made plans and your children are excited at the prospect of their new life.
Should a parent leave the UK with their children if they don’t have the other parent’s agreement or a court order?
Some parents ask if it is worth risking leaving without getting the other parent’s agreement or a court order. The answer is no, it isn’t. That’s because if you are moving to a Hague Convention country the children could be moved back to the UK very quickly and you could face criminal proceedings. Therefore, a move without the other parent’s agreement or a court order could be highly disruptive and unsettling for your children. It could also make it less likely that you will get court permission to move overseas with your children than if you had applied to court and got your permission before you first left the UK.
Applying to take children overseas to live
If your dream is to move away from the UK with your children it will take time and planning. It is best to talk to a children law solicitor as soon as you think about moving abroad with your children. The solicitor can talk to you about the best way to broach the topic with the other parent and the court process if you can’t get the other parent’s agreement. You will need to leave yourself enough time to get a court order if you have a deadline, such as the start date of your new job overseas or the commencement of the new school term.
When you are trying to get agreement or a court order preparation is the key to success. For example, if you want to move to Spain, you may be able to quote flight times and costs and have provisional contact suggestions so your ex-partner knows that you don’t want to move to Spain to cut them out of your child’s life and that they will still get to spend time with their child.
It is also important to do your research and to know the basics of where you will be going. That’s because you will get permission to go to a specific country, not just ‘overseas’. You therefore need to do some research on homes, schools and health care in the country you want to move to. If there are potential issues, such as crime rates or COVID-19 pandemic infection rates, then you need to explain how you are catering for those. For example, the high crime rates may relate to a city or region that you are not planning to move to. With health concerns and lack of NHS cover abroad, you may be able to say that your offer of employment includes private health care for you and your family or your pay rise will cover the cost of private health insurance. The point is to anticipate objections, do your research and have your answers ready.
The more you work with your children lawyer on your detailed plans the more likely it is that you will be able to persuade the court that your planned move overseas is well thought out and is in the best interests of your children.
Child relocation orders overseas and contact orders
If you get your order allowing you to relocate overseas with your children the UK court is likely to make a contact order (child arrangement order) in favour of the parent who will continue to live in the UK. The contact could include facetime or phone contact or holiday contact. The order could set out whether the contact will take place in the UK or overseas and make detailed arrangements. The court can specify that a ‘mirror order’ is obtained in the country you are moving to so that the order made in the UK can be enforced by the other parent if contact doesn’t take place as ordered by the UK court.
Is a child relocation order application worth it?
If the move overseas is your dream or a necessity as you have been posted overseas with your job then yes, an application for a child relocation order is worth exploring as the likelihood is that you will regret it if you don’t do so.
Although the court will focus on what it thinks is best for your child the court will also consider the reasons for the move so with a well-intentioned and planned move overseas it is always worth applying for a child relocation order.