With summer approaching, you may be considering taking your child abroad over the summer holidays. However, the situation is slightly more complicated for separated or divorced parents. As a parent, it is natural that you wish to travel with your children. Perhaps you have relatives overseas, or maybe you just want to get away for a break. Regardless of the reason you want to take your child abroad, you may need to obtain express permission from the child’s other parent. In this article, we look at why you need permission, best practice for getting the authority to take your child abroad, and what to do if the other parent refuses.
Taking a child abroad if you have a court order
If you have a child arrangement order which sets out that the child lives with you, you may take your child abroad for up to 28 days. If the court has ordered that the child live with both parents, the other parent may take the child abroad for up to 28 days. However, in some cases the court may include prohibitions in a child arrangement order, including in relation to holidays. It is important to fully understand the terms of your child arrangement order before taking a child on holiday.
Why do I need permission to take my child on holiday?
We understand that getting permission to take your own child on holiday can seem confusing and even frustrating, but it is important. Anyone with parental responsibility may take the child abroad, but they must have express permission from anyone else with parental responsibility. Failure to get the other parent’s consent could amount to child abduction under the law. This is a very serious offence, which can be avoided by following the right procedures before going on holiday.
Best practice for obtaining permission to take your child on holiday
If you want to take your child on holiday, we suggest approaching the topic with the child’s other parent as early as possible. It is best to hold off on booking a holiday before discussing it with anyone who must give consent, as this could cause additional tension. Communication is important, and you should be prepared to discuss your plans with the other parent as they progress and keep them updated. The other person may expect to know the location, dates, travel arrangements, where you will be staying, who else may be joining you on the holiday, and how you can be contacted in case of an emergency.
Verbal consent is perfectly valid; however, we would always recommend obtaining written consent or documenting the consent in some way. Although you may be confident that there will be no problems, the authorities of most countries are concerned about the risks of child abduction. You could face questions on arrival, or when you leave the UK and having written consent will give you peace of mind.
Written consent should contain the other parent’s contact details and your trip details. You may also wish to bring evidence of your relationship to the child, such as a birth certificate, adoption documentation and if your name has changed since, evidence as to why your name has changed.
What to do if the other parent refuses to grant you permission
If you are unable to get the consent of the other parent to take your child on holiday, it is possible to ask permission from the court. In general, the courts consider holidays with parents to be a positive experience for children, and so long as there is no genuine reason to believe that the holiday is not in the child’s best interests, the court will generally grant permission.
A common reason that the court may feel that the holiday is not in the child’s best interests is when the child does not typically spend a significant amount of time with the parent. For example, if they have only ever stayed with the parent for one night at a time, a two week holiday would be inconsistent with their existing relationship and may be overwhelming for the child.
Contact IMD Solicitors – International Family Lawyers
At IMD Solicitors, we always recommend that parents try to come to an agreement for arrangements for their children – including when it comes to taking a child abroad, either for a holiday or permanently. Our experienced UK solicitors can advise you on the best possible solutions for you and your family. Call us today on 0330 107 0107 or complete our enquiry form, and we will get back to you without delay.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since this article was published.
F v F - Acted for a German husband in a complex financial remedy matter. He decided to instruct IMD Solicitors after he had lost trust in his previously instructed solicitors and feared that he would not achieve a favourable outcome from the proceedings. The relevant assets were spread across the globe with some located in the UK (including a multi-million pound business), Gibraltar, Spain, Dubai, and Poland. The overall value of assets exceeded £24 million. The husband had been cut off from the matrimonial assets and excluded from control of the business that had been established by his family. The case involved the instruction of numerous experts, for business valuations, Capital Gains Tax reports, and opinions on the enforcement of orders in foreign jurisdictions, and dealing with several applications, including applications for orders to freeze assets, prevent the disposition of assets, for the joinder of parties, and to litigate conduct issues. The final result exceeded the client’s expectations.
L v L - We were instructed by a mother in a complex international children matter. She was required by orders of the UK courts to return the child to the UK from Poland. She had travelled with the child to Poland but, following unsuccessful application to extend her stay there in August 2017, she decided not to return to the UK because the child disclosed sexual abuse by a member of the paternal family and the father. In September 2018, the Polish court dismissed the father’s Hague Convention application for the child's return on the basis of Article 13(b), a decision which the father appealed. In March 2019, the father applied to the UK High Court for an order for the child’s return pursuant to the procedure set out in Article 11(6) – (8) of the Brussels IIA Regulation. Despite the father's unsuccessful Hague Convention application in Poland, the UK court ordered the return of the child. Article 11 does not allow the court of the returning country much discretion. After all of this, the mother instructed IMD Solicitors to apply to discharge the orders of the UK Court for the return of the child. Even in the face of the fact that most applications to discharge such return orders fail, we succeeded. We are currently awaiting a decision in the UK courts on a further application for the transfer of jurisdiction to the Polish courts where the mother resides with the child.
G v P - We represent a Spanish mother in respect of an urgent application for a Child Arrangements Order and Specific Issue Order in the UK seeking the relocation of the child to Spain. This was after the return of the child to the UK under Hague Convection proceedings which this mother lost in Spain.
She was asking for an order for the relocation of the child back to Spain and an urgent interim Child Arrangements Order to allow her to see the child pending the final outcome of the UK proceedings. IMD successfully argued that, regardless of the return of the child to the UK under the Hague Convention, the mother should be allowed unsupervised overnight contact with the child. We were delighted to be able to secure her contact with the child for Christmas and she said that it was the best Christmas gift she could have wished for. The outcome of the application for the relocation is pending.
S v V - We currently represent the father in Child Arrangements Order proceedings issued by the mother in relation to variation of a UK order made in the face of numerous other international proceedings. He is an Italian National who has been living in France for the last 20 years and the mother is a Lithuanian national. The child is now 11 years old and proceedings concerning the child have been ongoing in various jurisdictions for the majority of the child`s life. Contested divorce proceedings including child arrangements took place in Monaco. The French Court and authorities were also involved, and various proceedings had been ongoing between parties since 2013 in France and Monaco.
The parties’ divorce was pronounced in Monaco. Thereafter, in December 2020, the mother submitted an application to relocate to England with the child, and the relocation took place in June 2021. Upon relocation, the she lodged a child arrangement order application, seeking to register a judgment made in Monaco and to vary the same in respect of the contact arrangements between the father and the child. The father seeks for the child’s return to Monaco.
Due to the parties’ mutual allegations and the associated international elements, various authorities and courts that have been involved in the case, the local authority has become involved with the family and a guardian has been instructed to represent the child in the UK proceedings. At present, these proceedings in England are ongoing and the outcome of the professional reports regarding the family are awaited.
P v P - We have acted for the Respondent Husband in relation to the financial remedy proceedings in the UK. The parties had various assets in the UK and Romania consisting mainly of the portfolio of properties but conduct issues were raised by the Wife due to a business of the Husband over which she had lost control and her allegations of dissipation of assets. The value of assets excluding the business were in a region of £3 million.
K v K - We act in financial remedy proceedings for a wife who is a Polish national. The matter's complexity mainly comes from a dispute between the parties around land in Poland. Its value was initially in dispute but was then assessed by a joint expert to be in the region of half a million pounds. The total assets in this case are estimated to be worth over £1 million. The land in Poland is a subject to contract with a third party and is being leased as a photovoltaic (solar) farm. The division of the land to achieve an equal share of the assets is complicated due to the contract in place and plans for the future use of the land. Currently the parties are awaiting a final hearing but efforts are being made to reach a settlement with the aid of alternative dispute resolution and in order to save the parties money and avoid further delays.
R v O - We acted pro bono and worked together with a law firm in Poland to ensure that the Costa Rican Mother regains access to her child. The Mother's only child was abducted from the UK in 2014. The Mother was successful with the abduction case and the UK family courts ordered the return of the child. The orders were recognised in Poland but unfortunately due to various issues with the Mother's immigration status and court's delays in Poland, the orders were never enforced. The Mother was facing removal from the UK and prospects of never seeing her child again. We have corresponded with various courts in Poland dealing with international abduction matters and we decided that an application for contact should be issued rather than any proceedings for further enforcement of the orders, as the Mother had not seen the child for around 7 years. At the same we secured the Mother's stay in the UK making successful outside of immigration rules application to extend her stay. We now receive regular photos from the Mother with her daughter, as face to face contact is taking place. We helped to secure an order of the Polish courts for the Mother to see the child regularly in person, whilst when she instructed us she was facing a prospect of never seeing her child again and being deported to Costa Rica.
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