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Hi all.
I will try to keep this simple.
I have a 10 year old daughter. Me and her mother are now divorced. I want to take her to Australia for 2 weeks to visit all my family who now live over there.
I was originally refused permission to take her as it was "to far". "If something happened she (mum) couldnt get there fast enough"... to name a few.
She has now come around to granting permission SO LONG as I can agree to some conditions. I can agree with most as they are simple ones that I would do anyway, like make sure she was always supervised. The main problem one for me is this..
"Dont ask to take her again for another 5 years".
This is unreasonable in my opinion as my daughter is entitled to see her grandparents, uncles and cousins.
We do not have never used a court to decide on custody and therefore have always just worked out ourselves how to have joint custody.
I am never consulted when my daughter goes on holiday with her Mum, I am just told " we are going to spain for 2 weeks from .. till ..."
Is there any legal reason that I either can or cant take my daughter away?
I just need to know where I stand really.
Any help really gratefully received,
🙂 thanks for you time
You do need her permission to take your child out of the country. Or a court order.
If a resident parent (The Mother) is refusing to allow a non-resident parent (you) to take a child on holiday then the non-resident parent can seek a Specific Issue Order (SIO) from the court under S8 Children Act 1989.
A court would probably feel that the mother was being unreasonable by withholding consent, as she would be denying your daughter a fantastic experience and would issue a SIO in your favour.
When do you want to take your daughter away?
I was planning to take her away over Easter next year. For the 2 weeks school holiday.
Many thanks so far for the advice.
Does the same apply to the Mum, can she not take my daughter overseas without my permission?
If a resident parent has a residence order then they are able to take the child abroad for up to a month without the consent of the other parent. If the resident parent wanted to go away for longer than one month they would require written consent of all people with parental responsibility.
If the resident parent does not have a residence order then they do not require positive agreement but should inform the non-resident parent of the intentions and consider any reasonable objections. If a non-resident parent wishes to prevent a resident parent taking a child on holiday then he or she will need to make an application for a Prohibited Steps Order under S8 Children Act 1989.
A court will only issue a PSO if there's a welfare issue or risk of abduction.
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