Unmarried father and mother: taking a child abroad

helpmeplease

Can an unmarried mother take her child abroad without the permission of the father?

The names of both parents are on the birth cert, and both parents signed the form for the child's passport.

The father pays court-ordered maintenance, and has no interest in having contact with the child.

Can the mother take the child abroad without his explicit permission?

CelticRambler

Do you mean permanently? If so, no, not usually. The child has a right to contact with both parents even if one is not actually playing a significant role in its life. It's not for either parent to decide unilaterally to remove the child from the jurisdiction, but both parents can agree between themselves (in writing) to a change of domicile.

nevis7

can i ask a question on a related theme?

my son and his former partner, unmarried, had a child 2 years ago. she is east european. child was born in ireland, irish passport. after 12 months, they split. she decided, against my sons wishes, to send the child to her parents in east europe, and she remained working in ireland.

the child was originally only staying there for a month. 12 months later, and my son and the rest of our family have not seen the child and it was made clear we were not welcome over there.

there was no formal court agreement, my son paid what i thought was well over the odds, of 600 a month to her bank account. she keeps telling him, that she is bringing back the child, soon, truthfully seems to be stringing him along.

is she entitled to leave the child outside of its country of birth, if she so wishes?, or does the birth father have rights to access, and do we the grand parents in turn have access rights.

as of now, she has total control over the childs future, in this day and age is that the way the law has ended up?

her reason for leaving the child in her homeland is that she must work 9-5 5 days a week and on her own cannot afford childcare, that is her line, that is partly true, add in that she is not interested in being a fulltime mother and you then know why she prefers to offload the child to her parents over there and live a single life over here.

my son, and we his parents, would happily look after the child in ireland, and she could take the child at weekends. if we presented this option in whatever relevant court, would we have a chance or be wasting our time?

who the fug

nevis7

Suggest your son see a lawyer on this

Fromthetrees

nevis7 wrote: »

can i ask a question on a related theme?

my son and his former partner, unmarried, had a child 2 years ago. she is east european. child was born in ireland, irish passport. after 12 months, they split. she decided, against my sons wishes, to send the child to her parents in east europe, and she remained working in ireland.

the child was originally only staying there for a month. 12 months later, and my son and the rest of our family have not seen the child and it was made clear we were not welcome over there.

there was no formal court agreement, my son paid what i thought was well over the odds, of 600 a month to her bank account. she keeps telling him, that she is bringing back the child, soon, truthfully seems to be stringing him along.

is she entitled to leave the child outside of its country of birth, if she so wishes?, or does the birth father have rights to access, and do we the grand parents in turn have access rights.

as of now, she has total control over the childs future, in this day and age is that the way the law has ended up?

her reason for leaving the child in her homeland is that she must work 9-5 5 days a week and on her own cannot afford childcare, that is her line, that is partly true, add in that she is not interested in being a fulltime mother and you then know why she prefers to offload the child to her parents over there and live a single life over here.

my son, and we his parents, would happily look after the child in ireland, and she could take the child at weekends. if we presented this option in whatever relevant court, would we have a chance or be wasting our time?

Your son should apply for guardianship and joint custody immediately, no need for a solicitor for that but get a solicitor immediately anyway. He might be able to get free legal aid. You may be able to apply for the same rights your son can.

If the child has already been living in Eastern Europe for a year there's a chance you're fudged already but you need to get on it now to stand any chance.

Even if the court system wasn't so terribly biased against fathers than I think it'd be a tough job trying to convince a judge the child should be with ye if it goes on for another year, the child won't speak English and you will be strangers to him.

Get on it.

Fromthetrees

helpmeplease wrote: »

Can an unmarried mother take her child abroad without the permission of the father?

Absolutely yes, the unmarried father has no legal rights over his child.

Nothing, nada, zilch.

Having your name on the birth cert grants no rights.