Can I move our children to a different country to live if we are separated?

If you are separated from the other parent of your child, you may decide that you would like to relocate to a different part of the country or even a different country. 

The recent case of AY v AS [2019] EWHC 3043 (Fam) indicates that the court will likely not agree to relocating to a different country if you have not at least tried moving somewhere else first. 

In this case, the father was born in the UK and the mother was from Kazakhstan and they had a two year old daughter. After they separated, the mother lived alone and was unemployed and therefore applied to the court to permanently relocate to Kazakhstan with their daughter. 

The plan would be for the father to spend 70 days a year with their daughter, with half of the time being spent in Kazakhstan. The application was dismissed as the mother had not tried to relocate in the UK and the plan for contact with their daughter was unreasonable and not in her best interests. Instead, the court allowed the mother to relocate within the UK to find employment elsewhere.

If you are in this situation, you should try to reach a practical arrangement so that both parents can see the children. If you cannot reach an agreement, you may have to apply to the court for a child arrangements order where the court will consider the circumstances and decide where your children should live.

Our lawyers have offices based in Wolverhampton and Cradley Heath and provide assistance to clients across the West Midlands including: Stourbridge, Kidderminster, Birmingham, Dudley and Walsall.

If you would like any further information or advice in relation to any child related issues, please contact our specialist family lawyers: Mark Vandaele on 01902 796930 (mvandaele@georgegreen.co.uk) at our Wolverhampton office or Rachel Baker on 01384 340 580 (rbaker@georgegreen.co.uk) at our Cradley Heath office.