I (A Child) (Relocation: Australia), Re
[2024] EWFC 3 (B)
Q Relocation to Australia. Permission Refused, Re
21 February 2024
[2024] EWFC 222 (B)
Family Court
A mum wanted to move to Australia with her kids. Dad didn't want them to go. The judge decided it was too risky to move the kids so far away because their relationship with their dad was still fragile, even though the children wanted to go. The judge made sure the kids would see their dad more often.
Key Facts
- •Relocation case concerning two children, LQ (8) and NQ (6), and their parents, AQ (mother) and BQ (father).
- •Mother applied for permission to relocate to Australia with the children.
- •Father opposed relocation and sought a child arrangements order.
- •Lengthy litigation history between parents, including non-molestation and Children Act proceedings.
- •A fact-finding hearing had previously taken place before Recorder Patel.
- •Father is a litigant in person; mother represented by counsel.
- •Cafcass officer, Ms Erica Shaw, provided a report and assisted with negotiations.
- •Children have a positive relationship with the mother's new partner, Mr. YZ, in Australia.
Legal Principles
Children's welfare is the paramount consideration.
Children Act 1989, section 1
Relocation cases require a global, holistic welfare analysis, weighing the pros and cons of each option.
Payne v Payne [2001] EWCA Civ 166, Re TC & JC (Children: Relocation) [2013] EWHC 292 (Fam), Re C (Internal Relocation) [2015] EWCA Civ 1305, Re F (A Child) (International Relocation Cases) [2015] EWCA Civ 882
Article 8 ECHR (right to family life) is engaged and requires a proportionality evaluation, balancing parental and child interests.
Re C (Internal Relocation) [2015] EWCA Civ 1305
Outcomes
Mother's application to relocate to Australia refused.
Insufficiently secure links to Australia; risk of damaging the children's relationship with their father and paternal family; current contact arrangements insufficient to ensure enduring relationship with father post-relocation.
Child arrangements order: children to live with mother, increased contact with father per agreed schedule.
To promote and strengthen children's relationship with father.
Nine-month family assistance order made.
To support the continuation of increased contact between children and father.
Father's application for a prohibited steps order regarding surname refused.
No application for name change before the court.