Following a drop off during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of court the number of court orders granting permission to take a child to live overseas is now beginning to increase.
In Q1 2022, the courts gave permission for a child to be taken out of the UK in 14 instances. The number has increased steadily from the preceding quarters, when there were 12, 10, and 8 permissions granted respectively. The number had dropped to just 6 in the height of the pandemic.
According to one firm, both the impact of Brexit and the shift to remote working during and since the pandemic may have prompted the decisions of many separated parents to seek to relocate overseas with their child or children to be closer to their extended family.
An application for permission to relocate is made to the court if a child’s parents cannot agree on the decision to take a child abroad. The consent of all those with parental responsibility is required for important decisions such as where a child should live, how he or she should be educated, and religious upbringing.
“The shift to remote or hybrid working may have encouraged some parents to think about relocating overseas. If the other parent objects to their child moving with them, this can result in very difficult and emotionally fraught litigation,” said Harriet Errington, Partner at Boodle Hatfield. She continued:
“Disputes between separated parents are now being compounded by delays in the court system, which mean families face longer waits to have their arguments resolved.
England and Wales, particularly London, has a particularly international workforce, so proceedings brought by one parent who wishes to leave the UK with his or her child can be quite common. For the other parent, the idea of not having regular access to their child can be traumatising.”
Errington went on to discuss what the court will take into account in such cases:
“The court’s first consideration will be the welfare of the child or children in question. There are a huge number of factors to consider in dealing with such applications; courts must give proper consideration to how the child or children will be able to maintain a relationship with the other parent and the impact of such a move.
In some cases, the judge may decide that moving abroad is not in the child’s best interests. In this scenario, the parent will have to decide whether or not they should proceed with the move.”
