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I have been told by my wife of 8years that she is taking our daughter to live in Scotland with a man she has just started an affair with. She has only been seeing this man for three weeks but is prepared to move into his home, whom he shares with his brother, with our daughter. We have a family home in Staffordshire, there has been no violence within the marriage, I am in a position to financially look after my daughter and have the support of my 29 yr old daughter from my previous marriage. My current wife has no means of income to support her or my daughter in Scotland. I am also unaware of the sleeping arrangements for my daughter in the proposed move. Can I seek a court injunction to prevent this? What rights do I have? My wife is stating she is moving away on Thursday 29th Oct, I need urgent advice if anyone has any thoughts for procedure etc.
Hi Graciesdad
Firstly welcome to Dadtalk.
Wow what a situation to be in. 😯 We will ask our legal experts over at the Children's Legal Centre to log in and give you some free advice. However it may take them 4-6 working days. If, due to your urgent need by thursday, you wish to call them direcly their contact detail can be found here http://www.dadtalk.co.uk/directory_of_services.php?cat=Legal%20issues
Do let us know what happens.
all the best
Dear Graciesdad
Firstly, because both you and your wife have parental responsibility for your daughter it is possible for either of you to move anywhere in the UK without gaining the consent of the other parent.
However, it is possible for you to apply to the court for an emergency court order to try and prevent your wife from moving to Scotland with your daughter.
It is important to remember that at 11 your daughter's wishes and feelings may need to be taken into consideration by the court. Therefore making an emergency application to the court is only likely to delay the decision rather than prevent it altogether.
In order to do so you should go to your local county court as soon as possible and request a copy of the C100 form. You should fill out this form whilst at the court and state on the form that you are applying for a ‘Prohibited Steps Order’. This is an injunctive type of order which, if granted, will prevent your wife from moving and taking your daughter with her.
At the same time it will also be possible for you to apply for a residence order. You can apply for both orders on the same form. There will be an application fee to the court of £175. You should make it clear on the form that you are applying on an emergency basis.
You should ask the court about the option of applying on an ex parte basis. This means that the hearing will be conducted in the absence of your wife. Sometimes applications can be heard the same day by a judge.
When you attend court for the hearing, it is up to the judge to decide what is in the best interests of your daughter. It is difficult for applications to stop an ex-partner from moving to be successful. The decision would have to be clearly adverse to your daughter’s welfare for the judge to issue the order which would prevent your wife from moving.
As stated previously, you can also apply to the court for a residence order. A residence order would mean that legally your daughter was living with you. The court will have to come to a decision regarding which parent would best serve the child's best interests.
A full residence order will take between 6-12 months to be granted and therefore it is prudent to apply for an interim residence order for the mean time. Your daughter's opinion is likely to be considered by the court when deciding whether or not to grant you a full residence order. An interim residence order can be granted on an emergency basis whilst the full order is decided upon.
If you need clarification on any of the above issues then please do not hesitate to call the Child Law Advice Line on 08088 020 008.
Kind regards
Children’s Legal Centre
That's an awful thing to happen so fast. I would have thought, based on the legal advice above, that this would be a massive upheaval for your daughter - I presume until now, she has been living in your house. Have you asked for her opinion on this? Assuming she wants to stay (after all, she has presumably only just made new friends in secondary school), then you have every right to insist that your daughter stays with you and then let your wife prove that it's not in her best interest to do so - the court will almost certainly get a CAFCASS involved and your daughter will be old enough that her opinions will be listened to by the courts.
I'd get more legal advice from the Legal Centre, but I'd consider taking your daughter away for a couple of days on Wednesday/Thursday so that your wife can't just vanish with her - but get legal advice on this first.
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