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Moving with your children to another town, state or country is known as relocation and it is vital that you obtain legal advice prior to relocating with a child.
The court will not favour a parent for making the decision to take a child away to live a sufficient distance away from the other parent for the purpose of preventing the child from spending time with the other parent.
However, there are some circumstances where the court has allowed for the relocation of a parent. These circumstances include if the move is to take a new position which will advance the parent, the move represents a transfer in present employment or if the move is necessitated by the practicalities and costs of rehousing after a property settlement. It is important to note that the ability of the child to spend time with the other parent will be protected as best as it can in the circumstances. This may mean that longer periods of time may be ordered and some sharing of the costs of child travel may be ordered.
In addition to considering what is in the best interests of the child, the court will also contemplate the practical difficulty and expense of the children spending time with and communicating with a parent and whether that difficulty or expense will substantially affect the children’s right to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis.
There are other factors to acknowledge when determining whether the court will make an order to allow the relocation of a parent, including the financial means of the family and the costs of travel that will be incurred due to the relocation.
Any relocation would need to ensure that the child would not see or live with a parent or another significant person in their lives, considerably less than if no relocation was to occur.
Different considerations apply when one parent wishes to take a child overseas to live. The paramount concern for the court will always remain the best interests of the child and the primary consideration in determining what is in the best interests of the child is the benefit of the child to have a meaningful relationship with both parents. It would involve a very special set of circumstances where a meaningful relationship could still be conducted overseas.
It is important to note that a parent cannot relocate with the child if there has not been an agreement between the parents or without a court order. If you decide to relocate without a court order or without the consent of the other parent, the court may order you to return the child until such time than an agreement or outcome is made.
In the event that you are considering relocating with a child, we highly encourage you to contact one of our parenting experts to discuss the merit of your application.
If you are concerned that your former partner has relocated with your child(ren), please contact our office to arrange an urgent appointment with one of our Family Law parenting experts.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”35px”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” css_animation=””][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns=”two_columns” columns_proportion=”33_66″][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”middle” horizontal_alignment=”left” advanced_animations=”no”][vc_single_image image=”312″ img_size=”full” style=”vc_box_circle_2″ onclick=”custom_link” qode_css_animation=”element_from_fade” link=”/meet-the-family/”][/qode_elements_holder_item][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”middle” horizontal_alignment=”left” advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”0 0 0 10%”][vc_column_text]
By Renee Le Breux
Collaborative Family Lawyer
Parenting Expert[/vc_column_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
