taking children abroad without fathers consent

Section 13 of the Children Act 1989 states that when a residence order is in force no person may remove a child from the UK without either the written consent of every person who has parental responsibility for the child or the leave of the court. The person in whose favour the residence order is made may take the child abroad for a period of less than one month.

If there isn't a residence order there is no restriction.

Under s1 Child Abduction Act 1984 it is a criminal offence to take children abroad without the consent of those with PR unless consent is unreasonably held.

dukey wrote:

If there isn't a residence order there is no restriction.

I have to respectfully disagree and would refer you to the link in my previouse post.

No problem Zonked ill take a look now.

Sorry, link is below

'If the parents are or were married (i.e. both have parental responsibility) or unmarried and the father hasparental responsibility and there are no residence orders or other restriction orders made, neither parent can take a child on holiday abroad outside of the United Kingdom without the written consent of the other parent or any others with parental responsibility. If consent is refused, an application to the court for a s8 specific issue order should be made for permission for the holiday.'

THE INTERNATIONAL FAMILY LAW GROUP
Guides to family law and practice

www.davidhodson.com/assets/documents/Holiday.pdf

Yup that line was wrong thank you for pointing it out, for some reason i contradicted myself i blame the snooker

The problem is what should happen doesn't always happen in practice. Where a specific issue order is applied for judges might rely on s13 Children Act 1989 (civil law) because the intention of the Child Abduction Act 1984 (criminal law) is to prevent international child abduction rather than regulating family holidays.

As Dukey pointed out CA1989 states that where a residence order is in force with respect to a child, no person may remove him from the UK without either the written consent of every person who has parental responsibility for the child or the leave of the court. It then goes on to say that the this does not prevent the removal of a child, for a period of less than one month, by the person in whose favour the residence order is made. Nothing is said about when there is no residence order and therefore there is no restriction.

It is also a moot point whether or not a contact order automatically by default gives residence to the parent with the majority of care.

Therefore when many parents with care have followed the advice of applying for a specific issue order the judge has given them a lecture on it being not necessary and a waste of the courts time. Unless there is a history of contact being frustrated the other parent then usually gets a rollicking for being controlling and/or unreasonable by refusing consent for the children to enjoy a family holiday which is generally considered to be in their best interests.

Ezzi, regardless of the fact that there appears to be a contact order and you therefore possibly have a residence order it would be reasonable to write to the father formally giving details where the child will be staying, dates, contact numbers and offering alternative contact for any that will be missed.

If agreement about holidays cannot be reached in advance it's best to apply for a specific issue order from the court to avoid misunderstandings, problems with contact, accusations of abduction and other applications to the Court. See my earlier reply on your other thread;

www.wikivorce.com/divorce/Divorce-Advice...-Re-help.html#266152

When there is no residence order and consent for holidays is unreasonably refused one option for the parent with the majority of care is to seek a residence order. See zonked's link above.