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My ex wife is planning to move back to her native New Zealand from Scotland at the end of August, taking our 4 year-old daughter with her. Our relationship has always been pretty amicable, and my time with my daughter has always been on an ad-hoc basis as I've always worked shifts. Recently this has changed to every 2nd weekend because I changed jobs. I have a son from a previous relationship, and I've always tried to have the kids at the same time, and they're very close. I've been told that she needs my written permission to go, but who checks this? Obviously I've been advised to contact a solicitor, does anyone know roughly how much this will cost?
Morally, I know this is wrong, legally is it worth fighting, as it would utterly destroy my relationship with my ex?
Hi Mike
Does your daughter have a passport?
You have Parental Responsiblity in respect of your daughter which basically means in your case that your ex cannot just take your daughter to New Zealand without your consent. You will have to sign a form in relation to this, most countries want to see evidence that all people with PR agree to the child going to that country, even if they are going on holiday. Who checks it? Border Patrol/Embassies. Our own Passport Office is notified if a child is not to be removed from the UK without permission.
Legally is it worth fighting because it would destroy your amicable relationship with your ex-wife? Hmmm..Isnt your ex trying to destroy your relationship with your daughter by removing her from the country? The point is that it is your child's right under the law to have a relationship with both parents. 🙂
I suppose the question is whether you want to keep your relationship with your daughter, if so then I think you have to fight to keep her in the UK and yes it would be worth it! 🙂
Hi there 🙂
The first thing you would do if you wished to prevent this would be to apply for a Prohibited Steps Order, this would buy you some time but ultimately the mother would then apply for a jurisdiction to remove the child and she would most likely be successful. There is a lot of strong case law that sets the judicial precedent, look up Payne v Payne. As the mother is from NZ and wishes to return there, she will have a strong case. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this area of Family Law. My advice would be to read up on it as much as you can and then you will be in a better position to make an informed decision about it. This type of case is extremely costly, perhaps you should take advantage of the free initial consultation that some solicitors offer and get some advice on it and the costs involved....you are looking at thousands though. 🙁
Have you discussed any arrangements as far as contact is concerned? It might be worth using Mediation to discuss how you could manage the long distance relationship with your child and have some agreement put in place at least. You might expect plenty of Skype contact and agreements to have your child here in the uk for a bigger block of time during holidays for example.
Best of luck 🙂
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