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I have been divorced for 2 years now. My ex and I both lived in the same town and although things are strained we both are in contact and are willing to discuss issues concerning my daughter. However about a year ago my ex moved home and my daughters school without telling me till a day bedore they moved to another village about 30 minutes down the road. She refused to give me the address even after she had moved. It transpires that after all the lies and accusations she had moved in with a bloke. I took my ex to mediation and we came to an agreement that this would not happen again and she would inform me of any major changes like moving home. Well when the relationship broke down 6 months later with her boyfriend she moved back to the same town as me and put my daughter back in the school with all her old friends that she was growing up with. She has been here for approx 4-5 months and my daughter tells me that her mum wants to move. I ask her mum and am told that my daughter is mistaken and that this is not the case. However I then see her house up for sale on a well known site. On further questioning she says that she hasn't made any definite plans to move but the house is on the market just in case. She says it's because she is searching for a new job but can't say where. My daughter meanwhile is getting upset as she thinks she has to move school again. My ex says that IF this is the case and she has to move schools then so be it. Basically cut a long story short. I believe my ex is moving 1-2 hours away and changing schools again. She is lying about it all though!
I really need some advice, can I stop her, is this allowed, how do I stand in this matter?
Hi there
As you have an agreement set during mediation, whilst it's not legally binding it is a statement of intent.
You can apply for a Prohibited Steps Order to try and prevent the move, there are factors that will affect the courts decision, the age of your child and if she is old enough, for her wishes and feelings to be taken into account.
There's no guarantee that a court application will be successful, if she has good reasons for a move then it's difficult for a court to limit her free movement.
If you think the move is imminent you can make an urgent application, Which means that you wouldn't have to attempt mediation beforehand.
If you don't think the move could happen at any time, you would first need to attempt mediation and if that failed, the mediator would sign the form to enable you to make a court application.
It's generally difficult to prevent a move unless there is proof that it's to make contact difficult. However, this is extremely unsettling for your daughter, so I'd actually consider going for residency (now a child arrangement order for her to live with you) - there's no guarantee you will succeed, but it's certainly worth thinking about.
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