my ex will not let me take my son abroad

I have been divorced for years now and my ex will not let me take him abroad, this would be the first time in years I have asked and she just has no reason to refuse other than being difficult,my child is 7 years old, would I need to apply to the court for permission, she is really unreasonable and bitter as I have a new life and she has not.

Is a residence order in force and if so, in whose favour ?

LMM

neil, par for the course mate I am afraid.
Does he have the passport? if not she mightbe worried that if you apply and get a passport she might not be able to get it from you, you canthave two passports.
She might be bitter, and so prevent you taking him for that reason.
Have you tried explaining, if she wont tell you why that it is for his benefit and that as long as you take reasonable insurance etc, it is for your son holiday enjoyment!

If she wont give you a reason, she is just bitter. You would find it hard I think to just allow a court to let you take him abroad it would have to be part of something else, such as a contact order.

Where do you normally take him? you could try stretching the horizons over the next few years, start with isle of wight, then jersey then france?

Is there any possibility that she might fear that you are going to take your son abroad and not bring him back? Or are you just talking about a two week holiday? If it's the latter, I think you can go to court and you are likely to get it. I think madaboutcars has done this so you might want to pm him about it.

Best wishes,
Sadie

Have a similar problem in that my Ex stated on her statement that she was 'terrified' that I would not bring D back. WTF I have a home in the UK am from the UK have lived in the same home over 18 yrs.

She may have fears, concerns and so on, it could be she has a problem with letting go or control issues (as does many a PWC with regard to holidays abroad) however as I pointed out to her Barrister at our recent hearing, I have provided over 12 mths notice of my intent, she knows the relative I am planning to visit, if she continues to ignore my request to discuss things in good time I will simply apply to the courts for a 'specific issues order' and assuming I can provide assurances to the courts that all is well I am likely to get a it agreed by the courts. The Barrister agreed that it was most likely they would grant permission for the trip.

In the end it is about the child and not just at the whim of one parent, as long as you do not come across as dictating, unsympathetic to your Ex's concerns (if she airs them) and can shows how well organised you are with regard to the trip it may be the only way you are going to get that holiday abroad.

best of luck. BNN

Back to some of the questions asked be lives with her And I get him everyother weekend and Wednesday nights and drop him off to school. She if she didnt lie has absolutely no concerns of bring him back at all. Unfortunately she knows how to play the game as she works for lawyers so tries to play all the cards she is very bitter and would try and make it difficult at any turn. There is no genuine reason she would not let him come with me other than personal gain of power. Unfortunately my only argument would be she is stopping him from experiencing new things just like any other normal child. At the end of the day it's only my child that is going to suffer from her selfishness.

Neil

The reason why I asked the question I did is that, if there is a residence order in her favour, then yes, you need her permission, or, failing that, a Court order.

In general, my understanding is that a Court order would be granted unless there is reason to believe that the application is made with a view to permanent removal. While you are at it, you could ask for a general permission to take your child abroad without leave for, say , two weeks in every year, without the need for a formal permission.

LMM