Mother not permitted to relocate with child to Cornwall
It is not unusual for a separated parent to want to relocate with their child to another part of the country.
Hopefully, in such a situation the parents will be able to agree whether the relocation should take place.
But if they are unable to agree then the parent wishing to relocate can apply to the court for a specific issue order permitting the relocation to take place.
And when the court considers such an application it will make its decision based upon what it considers to be best for the welfare of the child.
In doing so it will want to be sure that the parent has made a proper plan for relocation, as was demonstrated in a recent case that took place in the Family Court at Medway in Kent.
The case concerned an appeal by a father against an order permitting the mother to relocate with their 3-year-old son to a specified town in Cornwall. We are not told exactly where the parties were currently living (mention is made in the judgment of the cost of properties in London), but it is safe to assume that it is somewhere in southeast England.
The father put forward five grounds for his appeal, but we will look at just one here, as it is perhaps the most instructive for any parent wishing to relocate. That ground is that the judge was wrong to grant the mother’s application for permission to relocate with the child in circumstances where there was no proper plan for relocation.
The judge hearing the appeal found that this ground of appeal must succeed.
The mother had failed to set out specific details or proposals for her relocation (and, indeed, had not even visited the specified town in Cornwall when she first made her application). She had no proper plan for where she and the child would live, and had made no serious enquiries regarding nursery and school places.
As to the mother’s reasons for relocating to Cornwall, these appeared to be rather thin – the judgment mentions the possibility of property prices being lower there, Cornwall having better air quality (it seems the child suffers from a respiratory complaint), and the suggestion that crime rates are lower in Cornwall.
In the circumstances the judge who heard the original application was wrong to permit the relocation in the absence of a clear, well-reasoned and thought-out plan.
The message is clear: if you wish to seek permission from the court to relocate with your child to another part of the country, make sure you have good reasons for doing so, and a clear, well-thought-out plan for the relocation.
You can read the full appeal judgment here.
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