We can help with all aspects of your leave to remove London case and have a wealth of can be an inevitable consequence of international families that when, or after, parental relationships break down, one parent may wish to move to another part of the world to live, taking the children with them.
This can be a time of great stress and unease for the one parent whose relationship with the children they feel may either be at risk, or will be diminished if this happens. Child relocation applications to the court (leave to remove) are increasing with the increased movements of people around the world.
The court’s first consideration will always be to determine what is in the best interests of a child in each individual case. Some of the things that will be considered are;
- 1. Is the mother´s application genuine, i.e. that it is not motivated by a selfish desire to exclude the father from the child’s life?
2. Is the mother´s application realistically founded on practical proposals that have been both well researched and investigated?
3. What would be the impact on the mother of a refusal of her realistic proposal?
4. Is the father´s opposition motivated by a genuine concern for the future of the child´s welfare or is it driven by some ulterior motive?
5. What would be the extent of the detriment to him and his future relationship with the child if the application is granted?
6. To what extent would that detriment be offset by the expansion of the child´s relationships with the maternal family and homeland?
It is vitally important to consider both the motives of the parents and the parents’ plans.
Although technically, permission may not be needed in situations where only one parent has parental responsibility and that parent wishes to relocate abroad with the child, great care must be taken to not relocate without the other parent’s permission, otherwise there can be a real risk of child abduction proceedings in the civil and criminal courts being initiated. Written permission should always be sought from the other parent in all cases and if not provided then an application should be made to the court for leave to remove from the jurisdiction.
Recent judgments from the court of appeal have moved towards a slightly more balanced view of leave to remove cases and the importance of children’s relationships with both parents. In the past judges were believed to almost just approve applications from the primary carer successfully through. Nowadays it is not quite so easy for applications for leave to remove to succeed, there are many times where the case law can make it more difficult and even stop applications being successful.
The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) looks after the interests of children involved in family proceedings. It is independent of the courts and social services, but works under the rules of the Family Court and legislation to work with children and their families and then advise the courts on what is considered to be in the best interests of individual children. They can agree with the application is in the child’s best interests, recommend a refusal of the application, or say it is finely balanced and not make a definitive recommendation to the court, leaving the Judge to decide.
Although going through a leave to remove case may seem like a mine field and difficult to navigate, we will be there to help you all the way through the process. With our unique legal and psychological approach we can help you to mediate with your ex-partner and come to a mutually agreeable conclusion, with your child’s interests at the heart of it.
If you are looking for a lawyer to help with a leave to remove case based in London then call us today on 01483 826470 where we can talk you through the process.
