Does the person who has custody of the child have any right to move country?

LegacyUser

Does the person who has custody of the child have any right to move country?

Scenario:

M has custody of child but allows F access when he wanted (see details below). This access was decided informally between them ie. no court interference prior.

F initially took child every second weekend. But has now got new girlfriend and new w/end job. Now takes child every third weekend (girlfriend did not like every second weekend) plus night during week. Also when is his weekend as he has new job he puts child to bed and his M babysits child.

M was initially happy with this. But her situation has changed: her new boyfriend has had to move abroad for work. She is feeling lonely and also feels that she has no future: She sees F of child moving on and getting on with his life while she minds child the most but still accomodates his requests in relation to access. She feels like his childminder while he gets on with his life, but she cannot be with her boyfriend.

M is wondering can she move to new country to her boyfriend WITH CHILD (it is far away!!! Not England).

Anyone have any opinions on fairness/legality of this????

She does not WANT to take child away from F. But she feels she is living an unhappy life just so that F can see child.

silja

Legally: no, she does not have the right to move country without a court order, that is custodial interference (see Hague Convention).
Fairness: It depends. I think if the father is active in the child's life, then that is a positive thing and it should not be taken away from father or child. If the father is not doing anything with the child/ has no time, then she should probably be allowed to take the child abroad. Maybe an arrangement could be worked out where the father gets summer holidays and Christmas or Easter, and travel expenses are shared.

jackira

She does not need a court order to leave the country. There can be a court order against you to stop you from leaving the country, but not to allow you to go, if both parties agree then she can just leave without getting the courts permission about it.

I am in this exact situation, only the ex is not the childrens biological father. He was able to stop me from leaving. If i had gone before we went to court there would of been nothing he could of done about it. So if someone that is not related can force me to stay then i would of thought this father would have the same rights.

she could be the most miserable person in ireland and that wont make the slightest difference if it does go to court.

In my case even though i'm english my kids were born in Ireland and the judge said this is where they should be. As suggest above i offered summer holidays, half terms, easter, christmas and as many weekends as what we could afford between the 2 of us, he refused all of this. And i was only going to england. I was only going a few hours away from holyhead, said i would drive and take them over on the boat or if there were cheap flight i would fly them over, i was within an hour of 3 airports. He now has less access than what i was giving him before we went to court. He has every other weekend and 3 hours on a tuesday and a thursday. So for the sake of 6 hours a week i could of gone to england and come back every other weekend for him to have every 2nd weekend as his access.

You will have to see what the father says about this and how he feels. If he really doesn't want his child to move away then she has no hope.

LegacyUser

Hi, don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but just want to ask what happens in a similar situation where the M is a foreign national and wants to return to their home? If the M has full custody then refusing permission for the child to leave makes the M stay as well? If the M has better opportunities re work, living, childcare etc..what happens then? especially if the F only has 2 nights a week visitation and bulk of childcare falls on the mother?

Nevyn

This forum or the site can not offer legal advice.