my ex will not let me take my son abroad

Niel - am no expert but wanted to add a reply.

I think one issue is ensuring you have court ordered parenting time to allow the holiday. The other issue is you need to ensure exchange of passports.

In respect to parenting time, if there is an existing contact order you would need to have this varied to include holiday time - if the last order was less than 12 months you would use a C2 court form, over 12 months a C100 form. If there is no existing contact order you would need to apply for one using the C100 court form.

Once your holiday time was court ordered it would become enforceable. Also, if she were to breach the order you could recover reasonable costs involved in the lost contact - eg costs of plane tickets and hotels.

You would also be seeking a Specific Issues Order in relation to the passports. You would ask the court to order that passports be passed to you, say, 1 month before departure. You would use the same court form to ask this.

Hope this helps.

there is no specific order stating I can take him abroad so I would need to apply to the court then??

I believe that if you want to take your dtr abroad then everyone with PR would need to agree. In the absence of her agreement you would need a court order.

Thats fine I will nee a C100 form I believe as we have been divorced for four years now, what do think the chances are of success?

I think you have every reason to be positive, holiday time abroad with the kids is routinely agreed by the courts.

Best to try nail down all the issues in one go to avoid hassles in future. You need the holiday times to be either a fixed date, or, have a date in the year whereby holiday dates are agreed. Same with exchange of passports. If things go pear shaped you need to have the time to take it back to court.

LMM makes a good point about also asking for a general permission from the court to take your children abroad for future years without continually asking for permission.

thanks! do I need the P100 form? can I send this directly or in your opinion do I need a solicitor?

Do I need to send this to the court I was divorced at or any court?

You would file the C100 in the county court nearest your ex.

The application seems straight forward, whether you should instruct a solicitor is a tricky one. Not everyone is suited to being a litigant in person, at court your personality becomes exposed. If you come across as angry or emotional then it's a handicap. Conversely if you come across as calm, reasonable and child centred you place yourself in an advantageous position. If you reckon you can keep a cool head then I reckon you’d be fine.

My advice would be to join families need fathers. It will cost about £50 but would give you access to their net forums, meetings, helpline and also a McKenzie to attend court if you were prepared to pay an additional amount and wanted the extra support.