residency orders

Hi

Just wondered if anyone has any information on residence orders.

My partner has a contact order for contact to his son and his son told him this weekend that his mum took him to France for her partners birthday a few weeks ago.

She did not ask for consent from my partner and says that she can take him out of the country for no longer than a month without asking permission.

The warning notice on the order says that only applies to a parent with a residency order.

My question is, does she automatically have a residencey order or would she have to apply for one? There has never been mention of her having a residency order during any of the court hearings.

She took son to France back in October but asked for written consent first via her solicitor which i would assume means that she should have asked this time too.

My partner is concerned as she is so against him having contact to his son and makes things extremely difficult hence the need to take her to court. Hes worried that she''ll move abroad with his son.

We have the next court hearing on friday and just want to know how to address this in court and know where we stand

Any advice appreciated.

xx

A court order to stop someone doing something is called a prohibited steps order and you need to fill in those forms ASAP.

www.childrenneedfamilies.co.uk/court-forms/c1.pdf

This form is C1, it has on section 7 a question "do you believe that the children concerned have......." and one of the boxes is for "abduction", which you need to tick.

Then you need to fill in this form:

www.thecustodyminefield.com/CourtForms/C1A.pdf

Please take a look at this form and refer to section 3.

Some of the form may not be relevant to you, and I am no expert, but I do know that if you want to stop someone from doing something like you''ve described you need this order.

I have the same potential problem, which is something I''m applying for (along with other orders).

I hope this helps.

Oh, and btw- if you have a solicitor I suggest you ask them how to fill it out in the most effective manner!!

The exact wording of the order is important. Sometimes a residence order is automatically awarded when there is a contact order. If a parent has a residence order in their favour they may take children abroad for up to one month without consent.

Whilst strictly speaking it is advisable to have consent to take children abroad on holiday when there is no residence order, the courts tend to take a dim view of those who try to prevent children enjoying the usual family holiday abroad. That is unless there is a history of not complying with court orders and holidays are used to frustrate contact or there is a flight risk.

There needs to be evidence of a flight risk to successfully apply for a Prohibited Steps Order, particularly if the country concerned is a signatory of the Hague Convention on Child Abduction. Applying unnecessarily for a PSO can be perceived as aggressive and controlling whereas applying for Specific Issue Order or attaching conditions to the order is often a more positive way of resolving arrangements for travel.