Moving Away With a Child: Do You Need Permission?

Part of: Specific issue order

Moving away with a child within England and Wales does not need the other parent’s consent or the court’s permission, unless a court order says otherwise. That surprises parents on both sides of a move. What the other parent does have is the right to ask the family court to decide where your child lives, and the court decides that on your child’s welfare. This guide explains what the court weighs and what to do first, whether you are the parent planning the move or the one who would stay. A move overseas is different, and our guide to moving abroad with children covers it.

If someone is planning a move now, you can book a free initial consultation and one of our specialists will give you initial advice before anything is decided.

Do you need permission before moving away with a child?

Not from anyone, if no court order covers the move. Where more than one person has parental responsibility, each of them may act alone in meeting it (s.2(7)). The consent rules most people have heard of are about leaving the UK. A parent who takes a child under 16 out of the UK without the right consent can commit a criminal offence (Child Abduction Act 1984, s.1). No equivalent rule covers a move from one part of England and Wales to another.

A court order changes the picture. If a child arrangements order says when your child spends time with the other parent, it still binds you from a new address. Parental responsibility does not allow you to act against it (s.2(8)). A move that would make the order impossible to keep should go back to the court first, as an application to vary it.

Being free to move is not the same as being safe from a challenge. The other parent can apply to the court before or after the move, and the court then decides where your child should live. If you move first and a court later decides differently, your child could face a second change of home and school. Child relocation after divorce or separation works the same way whether or not the parents married, and a parent without parental responsibility can still apply (s.10(4)).

What about a move to Scotland or Northern Ireland?

Both are part of the UK, so the rules on taking a child abroad do not apply. They have their own courts and their own law, though. Take advice before a move there, especially if a case about your child is already running in England or Wales.

Moving away with a child: where do you stand?

Can the other parent stop the move?

They can ask the court to. Nobody has an automatic veto, but three kinds of order under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 can come into a dispute about a move.

• A child arrangements order decides who a child lives with and when they spend time with each parent. In a dispute about a move, this is usually the main application, and either parent can make it.
• A prohibited steps order stops a named step being taken without the court’s consent. The court cannot use one to achieve what a child arrangements order could achieve (s.9(5)), so it is usually sought alongside a child arrangements application rather than instead of one.
• A specific issue order settles one question the parents cannot agree on, such as which school the child goes to.

All three are applied for on form C100, and our C100 form guide explains the mediation meeting that usually has to come first. A child arrangements order can also carry conditions the parents must keep to (s.11(7)). If you are a father worried that a move will cut your time with your child, our guide for fathers covers your wider position.

How does the court decide an internal relocation dispute?

An internal relocation dispute turns on your child’s welfare, not on whether the move is fair to either parent. Welfare is the court’s paramount consideration (s.1(1)). When one parent opposes the order asked for, the judge must also work through the welfare checklist. In a move, these points tend to come up most:

• Your child’s wishes and feelings, weighed in the light of their age and understanding. An older child’s view about leaving their school and friends can matter a great deal.
• The likely effect of the change on them: a new home, a new school, and less frequent time with the parent who stays.
• Their needs, including how they would keep a real relationship with that parent.
• How capable each parent is of meeting those needs, in the new place and in the old one.

What a judge will want to see from each parent

A judge wants detail. The parent who wants to move should explain why, where the child would live and go to school, and exactly how time with the other parent would work, including who travels and who pays. The parent who objects should explain what the child would lose, and offer an arrangement that works if the move goes ahead anyway. The court can ask Cafcass to report on these questions before it decides.

The court can decide that your child lives with the parent who moves, with the parent who stays, or with both. It can also make no order at all if that would be better for your child (s.1(5)).

Moving away with a child: frequently asked questions

General information about the law in England and Wales, not advice on your circumstances.