Child Relocation

If there is no court order in place to prevent a relocation to another part of the UK (defined as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) then — in theory — nothing is stopping a parent from moving and taking their child with them.

However, such decisions shouldn't be made lightly or acted upon overnight unless there is a real and serious risk of harm to the child (such as in serious cases of domestic abuse or threats to the child’s life). 

Separated parents should try to reach an agreement about childcare arrangements if one parent wishes to move out of the area permanently with their child.

If no agreement can be reached, a parent can apply for a specific issue order under the Children Act. This would seek permission from the court for the child to relocate with them. 

If the relocating parent doesn’t make an application for a specific issue order but the non-relocating parent believes that there is an imminent risk of the child moving away permanently, they can make an urgent application to the court for a prohibited steps order under the Children Act 1989. This would prevent the relocating parent from taking their child away to live with them permanently. 

Finally, if there is a child arrangement order in place which states that the child should live with one parent and spend time with the other, then the resident parent would again (in theory) be free to move to another area within the UK without needing the non-resident parent’s permission, so long as the rest of the order isn’t breached. 

In some cases, there will be an order in place for shared care — so it’s inevitable that the order would be breached by the relocating parent if they decided to move away with their child without the agreement of the other parent as this is likely to materially impact the logistics of the order. 

If contact or shared care arrangements will be impacted as a result of a move and it’s impossible to stick to the terms of the order due to distance or travel logistics, then the relocating parent could be at risk of breaching the court order if they move. In these circumstances, the relocating parent should make an application to court to vary the current child arrangement order.

If you’re considering moving overseas with your child, you must first gain the consent (ideally written consent) of the other parent and anyone else who has parental responsibility.

Initially, you should always try to resolve the issue amicably, preferably through mediation or with the support of solicitors.

Where an agreement can’t be reached, you may need to apply to the court for permission.

If there is a child arrangement order in place which states that the child lives with one parent and spends time with the other, the resident parent can take the child out of the UK for up to one month (four weeks) without needing the consent of the other non-resident parent.

If someone with parental responsibility for a child isn’t named as someone with whom the child lives in a child arrangement order, they cannot remove the child from the UK without the consent of the resident parent. This would be classed as ‘wrongful removal’ and the other parent could make an application for a summary return of the child. 

If the court made an order to grant the relocation or failed to grant an order to prevent the relocation or have your child returned, you can ask the court to make an order for the child to spend time with you instead. This would generally be considered by the court as part of any relocation application.

A child arrangements order can specify the time a child should spend with you and whether this contact should take place in this country or overseas.

It’s important to note that ‘contact’ and ‘spends time with’ means more than just face to face contact and can also include cards, letters, gifts, phone calls, video calls and more. The type of contact required and who is responsible for facilitating it should be specifically set out in the order to avoid any issues.