Can I take my child abroad?

If there is no court order in place in respect of the arrangements for your child, then if the other parent has parental responsibility (you were married or they are named on the child’s birth certificate) then you would need their permission. 

If their permission was withheld, you would have to seek the assistance of the court and make an application called a Specific Issue Application.  As a general rule the court thinks that it is in the best interests of the children to go on holiday with a parent.  Permission would only be withheld if the court could be persuaded, for example that you did not intend to return or that the place that you wanted to go was dangerous in some way.   

If there is a court order in place in respect of the arrangements for your child and it specifies that the child lives with you, then you have the right to take the child abroad for periods of less than a month.  The other parent would have to issue court proceedings to stop you taking your child on holiday. 

George Green’s Specialist Family and Divorce Lawyers give advice regularly on the arrangements for children when their parents separate.