Dills

Migration for me is a long way off, waiting for the new sol list. However I have discussing the possibility with my kids. Last week they mentioned this possibility to their father. I have full custody of the children and he has no access rights as he was terrified the courts would give him to much so he didnt turn up to the final access hearing, thus the judge gave me full custody with no access rights for the father apart from at my discretion. He then agreed with me a month later to have them every saturday 10 til 6.

They have just come back from their visit and he has obviously been doing some research and said there is no way in hell he will ever sign for them to leave, my eldest daughter said to him 'well mum will take you to court', he said it will cost her a fortune and I just wont turn up.

What I need to know is will he have to pay a solicitor to fight me taking them, or will all the costs be mine alone. I am fairly confident that he wont succeed as his history during the access suggests he only wants them the bare minimum of time, he does nothing with the children apart from take them to his mothers and then the pub.

Any advice would be great.

Claire x

JenniGee

Hi Dills...

The short answer to your question is "Yes".

I would really advise you to use a solicitor to help you prepare your case & yes, the costs will be yours alone, so start saving, is the message.

On the plus side...using a solicitor will ensure that your Ex will not be able to waste your time & money...once the Judge has set the dates for the Hearings (usually a Preliminary, a Review & a Final) it really doesn't matter if your Ex turns up or not - if he refuses to engage in the process, then the Judge will take the decision without him.

In our case, one of my Ex's strategies was to waste time...the Judge has now dismissed him & all of his objections in order to keep to the Court's time frames. There is however, no provision for any costs, as this is a private law case, so they all fall on us.

PM me if I can help at all

xLaLax

Did you receive a court order from the judge stating that you have full custody of the Kids?? I would have thought that if you have that then there is no need for anything else as DIAC ask for a court order proving you have full custody or a statutory dec from the father (which your unlikely to get by the sounds of it)

Lorraine
xx

JenniGee

Unfortunately LaLa, in England a Residency (Custody) Order only gives the resident parent the right to remove the child from the jurisdiction for a period not exceeding 30 days.

Although residents parents often do stretch the point with regards to holidays (I have taken my girls on holiday to Oz for longer than that in the past) for the purposes of DIAC being able to grant any substantive visa, they do need a Court Order, specifically saying that the child can be permanently removed to Australia.

Believe me...if there was a way round it, I would have found it by now

xLaLax

Sorry JG I forgot that us scots are a wee bit different law wise.....I'm damn sure you would have found a way round it if it was possible!!!!!

Lorraine
xx

JAJ

There is, as a general rule, no such thing in English law as "full custody" that extinguishes parental rights of the other party. Were you married to the father?

If he is so terrible, and you didn't have to allow any access, why did you?

How old are the children? Their ages will influence your chance of getting permission to leave the jurisdiction.

In any case, it is probably much too soon to start any court battle given you don't even know if or when you will be eligible to migrate.