We provide a wide range of legal services to individuals through our specialist teams of solicitors across our offices.
We provide a wide range of legal services to individuals through our specialist teams of solicitors across our offices.
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We provide a wide range of legal services to businesses through our specialist teams of solicitors across our offices.
Online Services
Parental Responsibility is defined in law by the Children Act as:
A child’s mother automatically has Parental Responsibility and does not lose it if she separates from the child’s father, whether or not they were married.
Fathers of children who are not or have not been married to the child’s mother will have Parental Responsibility if they are named on the Birth Certificate of the child.
The starting point is that either parent, as long as they have Parental Responsibility, can legally have the children living with them, assuming there is no Child Arrangements Order (‘CAO’) setting out that the children live with the other parent. If the location of the children’s residence is in dispute, either party can apply for a CAO.
You can make an application for a Prohibited Steps Order. This is an injunction that would prevent your former partner taking certain prohibited steps. Usually these would be to remove the child or children from your care or control or to attend the children’s school.
You can also apply for a Specific Issue Order if you are concerned that the former partner will take the children abroad. The court can require your former partner to return the children’s passports if he or she has them in his or her care and control.
Emergency applications must be supported by very strong evidence as usually a parent will seek such Orders to be made without prior notice to the other parent. If an Order is granted the court would normally set another hearing in about a week’s time, at which time the other parent will have the opportunity of being represented and putting his or her position to the court.
In the event an agreement cannot be reached between you, the court would have to list a matter for a Final Hearing to determine issues between you and the court would make directions for the filing of further evidence if required.
The court would also need to deal with the interim child arrangements that would need to be in place pending the final hearing.
In the event your former partner has abducted your children, the following options are available to you:
In order to move to a foreign country with your children, i.e. a country outside the court’s jurisdiction of England and Wales, you would need the consent of the other parent or an Order from the court giving you permission to permanently remove the children from the country.
If consent is refused, it can be a lengthy and costly process in obtaining such an Order, but we can advise you on the next steps to take.
If you are intending to make an application to relocate, it is of great importance that you have thought through thoroughly all the practicalities of what life will be like for you and the children in a new country. You will need to set your plans out in a great deal of detail in a Witness Statement.
You will need to deal with the following matters (this list is not conclusive):
If you are objecting to a proposed relocation application by the other parent for permission to relocate your children to another country, you will need to respond to the matters listed above which you challenge. You would also need to consider:
Practically speaking, technically you do not need the other parent’s agreement to you moving away from the area which you currently live as long as it is in England and Wales.
However, if you know the move is going to be contested, you should, depending on your proposed destination, make an application to the court for permission to re-locate the children. The court will have similar consideration as to the matters set out in paragraph’s 8 & 9 above, albeit that some issues, such as change of climate or a new language will not be relevant.
On considering an application for any of the proposed Orders set out herein, the court’s primary concern is the welfare of the child or children. The court will need to consider the following matters in all applications:
In contested proceedings, the court is likely to seek the assistance of either the Local Authority/Social Services who have been involved with the family previously or the Court and Family Court’s Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass).
Social Services or Cafcass may be appointed by the court to speak to both parents and the children before making recommendations to the court on the issues to be determined between yourself and the other parent.
For help and advice, talk to a member of our team. They can advise on the best options in your matter.
