Separated Parents – Taking your Child/Children on Holiday

With the school holidays approaching, parents will be looking to take their children abroad on holiday. But when separated parents want to take their children abroad, complications may arise.

If you are a separated parent and wish to take your child or children abroad, you must obtain the other parent’s permission or consent if they hold parental responsibility.  Parental responsibility gives certain individuals rights in respect of a child. A child’s birth mother is automatically granted parental responsibility. Fathers who are married to the mother or those who are unmarried at the time of birth are granted parental responsibility by being named on the birth certificate.

It is best practice to have written consent from your ex-partner to show their consent. This may include their contact details and the details of the trip to which they are consenting their child to go on such as hotel name and address and flight times and numbers. It is best to have written consent as it may be required upon entry to the foreign country, depending on their rules.

What If There Isn’t Consent?

If your ex-partner is refusing to give their permission for you to take your child abroad, you can apply to get a court order approving the trip.  The parent wishing to take their child abroad, will need to make an application for a Specific Issue Order. You will be required to disclose information relevant to the holiday such as dates, flight times/numbers and the address of the hotel where you and the child/ren will be staying.

If you do not consent to your ex-partner taking your child/ren abroad, you can apply for a court order to prevent the trip. You will need to make an application for a Prohibited Steps Order which will require the court to investigate and make a decision as to whether permission is granted.

If a parent is named on a Child Arrangements Order as having care of the child/ren, that parent may take their child on holiday without permission of their ex-partner for a period of up to 28 days under the right set out in The Children Act 1989.

You should be aware that the Court process for a Specific Issue Order or a Prohibited Steps Order can take several months. With this in mind, if consent is likely to be an issue you should consider making your application in plenty of time to avoid disappointment.

Next Steps

If you would like to speak to one of our Family experts about taking your child/ren on holiday, then please contact us free on 0800 8840 640, or call one of our offices. To make an enquiry via our website, please click this link https://www.everys.co.uk/contact-us/.