Taking your children on summer holiday? Do you have parental responsibility?
The schools are breaking up now for the summer and for some of us that may mean the excitement of travelling abroad on holiday. If you are separated parents, we know that this can bring about a number of issues. Solicitor, Georgina Howe and Trainee Solicitor, Eleanor Drury, look at the rights and responsibilities that you may have and the important things to do before booking your trip abroad.
If there is an order in place, usually a Child Arrangements Order, then a child can be taken abroad for up to 28 days by the parent with whom the child lives with under the terms of the order, without needing the written consent of the other parent.
Parental Responsibility
If there is not a court order in place, you must first consider who may have parental responsibility for the child. Most usually, it is only both parents who share parental responsibility, but depending on your family circumstances there could be others who also share parental responsibility, such as grandparents.
What is often overlooked is that you will need to get written consent from the other parent and anyone else who has parental responsibility in order to take your child out of the United Kingdom (Section 13 (2) of the Children Act 1989). Failing to do so could lead to you committing an offence of abduction for which you can be fined, imprisoned or both.
Should consent be unreasonably withheld, then an application to Court can be made. The Judge will take into account the individual circumstances of each family and if permission is given for the holiday to take place then specific travel details will need to be provided. These will include the dates of travel, address details for where the child will be staying and any flight numbers.
Should you not agree to a child being taken abroad, you can apply to the Court for a Prohibited Steps Order to prevent it from happening. However it is worth bearing in mind that the Court’s view on holidays can vary from case to case, but in the main, the Court is likely to say that a child should go on holiday unless there is good reason not to, because a child should be allowed to go away and enjoy a holiday with their parent(s), siblings and wider family members.
If a Court finds that a parent is unreasonably withholding consent to a holiday, then it has discretion to make a costs order against the parent, meaning that there might be financial implications in withholding your consent.
What if my children’s grandparents want to take them abroad on holiday?
Should other members of the family, such as a grandparent, wish to take a child abroad, then it is worth noting that permission will be needed from all those who have parental responsibility. not just from one. Our advice is always to discuss a holiday with as much advance notice as possible and really weigh up why the holiday may or may not be in the children’s best interest. If you are worried about keeping in touch with your child and being updated, we can help you with practical tips for this.
What if my child has a surname different from my own?
You also need to be aware that customs officers may insist on extra checks where a child is travelling with somebody who has a different surname to them. In these circumstances and in order to avoid any difficulties, it is always useful to take additional documents to the airport with you which can help to verify your child’s connection to you, but also to confirm that you have everyone’s agreement to travel such as:
the child’s birth certificate (which may provide the details of both parents’ surnames)
and/or your marriage certificate (which will show the surnames before the marriage)
any existing court order
Written consent of the other parent, and others with parental responsibility, who is not travelling with the child
Open lines of communication
What is important is communication and trying to agree any travel arrangements in advance. This is not always possible, but if it can be achieved, it will avoid any applications to the court being necessary.
The specialist children team here at McAlister Family Law are here to offer advice if you are experiencing any difficulties or you want to know your rights on taking a child on holiday.
Our myth busting video may help to answer any other questions that you have. The link to the video can be found here.
