Hello Dads,
My ex wrote to me to say this week to say she's booked a two week holiday to Barbados with our 3yr old daughter next month.
Despite the fact we are;
- in the court process (had the FHDRA in October)
- have an interim court order (three evenings & one overnight per fortnight)
- the above order stipulates; "It is a criminal offence to take a child out of the United Kingdom without the consent of everybody with parental responsibility (which I have) unless the court has given permission.”
- the Final Hearing is currently listed for March 13th
Does anyone have experience of this? I wrote to her to say "no" as only just got used to overnights but the ex told me she's already booked the flights, etc and doesn't seem to give a s**t.
I know she can / will go to court to get permission anyway, but can I fight it / or even have any say in this decision if it gets approved by court? And what is the process for this?
Or does she just fill in a form and they say "yes, have nice trip"...?
It seems crazy that she can just take our kid out of nursery for two weeks (contrary to the Interim Order), and right before the FH when I've been steadily nurturing / building a strong overnight relationship between my daughter and my / her wider paternal family..
Thanks in advance for any advice given / stories shared!
Hi,
Even though there is interim court order, if it states that child lives with mother, she is allowed to take child abroad for up to 28 days without your permission.
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You can take a child abroad for 28 days without getting permission if a child arrangement order says the child must live with you, unless a court order says you can’t.
https://www.gov.uk/permission-take-child-abroad
Thanks @Bill, but the interim Order clearly states neither of us can take the child overseas without both of us consenting.
Am thinking of applying for a fast tracked Prohibited Steps Order as have only got daughter used to overnights (one per fortnight since October) as the trip is booked for Feb 17th so not long to turn things around.
And even more worried that when we get the CAO finalised in March, the ex will not think it's worth the paper it's written on (if she's already defied the Interim Order with no pushback from me or legal consequences) and will just do what she wants anyway.
Maybe I need to send a clear message now, that I won't tolerate any deviation from Order by applying for PSO