Travelling with children post separation
The school summer holidays are almost upon us and many separated parents will be planning to take their children abroad.?Travelling abroad with a family always takes a lot of organisation, but following separation there are a few extra points to consider.?
Firstly, if you and your ex-partner both have parental responsibility for your child, you must obtain their permission to take your child abroad. ?Parental responsibility is automatically given to mothers and is given to fathers if they are named on the birth certificate or married to the mother at the time the child is born.?If there is a child arrangements order in place which specifies that the child lives with you, then you are able to take your child abroad for up to 28 days without the consent of the other parent.?If this is the case, or even if your ex-partner does not have parental responsibility, it is still advisable to tell them of your plans to avoid any conflict.
If you need permission from your ex-partner, you can obtain this by talking to them directly or through a solicitor.?Permission should be provided in writing and taken with you on your trip along with that parents contact details.
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The other thing to bear in mind is if you have a different surname to your child.?This is very common but can lead to questions by the UK or overseas border control.?If this applies, you should take on holiday with you your child’s birth certificate and if your name has changed since your child was born, evidence of your name change such as a marriage certificate or change of name deed.
If your ex-partner will not agree to the holiday, you will need to consider an application to court for permission to take your child abroad.?For further, tailored advice, please contact Julia Lee in the Family Team at Knights about this or any other family law related issue.?
Contact details:?[email protected]?or 07469856077.
Really helpful advice. At ChildFirst we help separated co-parents navigate the emotions and complexity of agreeing arrangements. But it's important to remember that some things (like taking a child abroad) still need some legal agreement too.
Recruitment Manager - Legal
1 年Hi Julia, I have shared! I actually had this happen to me but was lucky enough that my sons dad was in the queue next to me, but I was questioned as we were not married at the time and had different surnames. May I ask, would this be the same if say the grandparents wanted to take their grandchildren abroad and have a different surname? Would we need to give them a written letter confirming that we give them authorisation? Thank you