Relocating abroad with the children

Case Study: Zack and Anya have been separated for 3 years and share 2 children Molly aged 4 and Minty aged 7. Both Zack and Anya are in new relationships and live about 6 hours away from each other so Zack sees the children during their school holidays. Anya’s partner is Australian and they share a child Jimmy aged 18 months. Anya and her partner would like to move to Australia with the children so that they can pursue a better quality of life there. She has not spoken to Zack about this and wants to know what her options are.

In the UK, everyone with Parental Responsibility (“PR”) must be consulted before any key decision about the child’s life is made. A decision as big as this requires a lot of thought and planning about how the children will maintain a relationship with Zack if they live in Australia, where they would go to school, how their relationship with the paternal family would be affected if they moved etc. 

The move would require a change in the children’s schooling which Zack must be consulted about as it affected his PR.  Zack must agree to the children relocating, or Anya must be given permission to relocate by the Court. Anya may want to consider trying to speak to Zack to see if they can come to an agreement about children’s relocation. Alternatively, Anya could consider mediation. This involves a neutral third-party professional who will assist the parties to resolve the issues. 

If the above options do not work, then Anya will need to make an application to the Court for a Specific Issue Order (“SIO”). This is an application under the Children Act 1989 for the Court to determine issues those with PR cannot resolve themselves. An application for SIO is not just limited to education, it extends to all matters relating to the decisions those with PR can make about the child (i.e. the child’s religion, health, education, changing their surname, etc.). 

Alternatively, Zack could make an application to the Court for a Prohibited Steps Order (“PSO”) which is an Order to prevent a parent from carrying out a certain action (i.e prohibit Anya from removing the children form the jurisdiction of England and Wales). 

The decision to make an application to the Court should not be taken lightly as this can be a lengthy and costly exercise. The Court will make a decision based solely on the best interests of the child and at the end of the process, there will be a legally binding Order of the Court which must be complied with. 

If you would like advice on any of the issues raised in this article, please contact Irrum Shah, Solicitor in our Family Law Department on 01295 204154, or by email at ishah@se-solicitors.co.uk