Canada after divorce
 

Myself and my husband are thinking of working then possibly obtaining permantent residence in Canada. I am a registered Nurse and my husband works in IT.

We have one child together but I have an 8 year old from my previous marriage. We dont have a residancy order but a contact order is in place.

Am I able to take my daughter to Canada without my first husbands permission as I know he would never do this in a million years?

Our daughter resides with me.

Thanks in advance

Nat

Re: Canada after divorce
 

Not a snowball in Hells chance.

Re: Canada after divorce
 

Thats what I thought :(

Re: Canada after divorce
 

Why wouldnt he agree?

Re: Canada after divorce
 

Sorry that the news probably isn't what you want, Nat, but welcome to the BE forum anyway.
x

Re: Canada after divorce
 

He took me to court over everything to do with our divorce because that's the person he is. We don't speak although daughter has contact.

I guess I'm tied to the UK for at least another 8 years!

Re: Canada after divorce
 

well, in order for this to work, you would need to get a court order to be allowed to remove your daughter from Britain to Canada. Courts have in the past often decided in favor of the parent with whom the child has residency, and wants to remove the child to a far away country.

The only way to find out is go to court.

And the only sure way to find out about your chances in court is talk to a lawyer specialized in international family law.

(or just wait and save yourself the hassle).

Re: Canada after divorce
 

A regular family lawyer should do.

Re: Canada after divorce
 

The older your daughter gets (even before she is 16), the more weight a court will give to her views, if you want to get permission to remove her from the jurisdiction.

Re: Canada after divorce
 

well sorry, that recommendation was just based on my own experience seeing a regular family law specialist who had no idea about any of the international contingencies...

Re: Canada after divorce
 

The key question is obtaining permission from the United Kingdom courts to leave the jurisdiction. Most other countries should recognise this.

I would expect most family law practitioners to have at least some understanding of cross-border issues as they come up a lot.

Re: Canada after divorce
 

We had quite a few of these posts recently - some of the parents are absent from their kids lives, so the decision is much easier.

However, I wonder how the kids feel especially when they love and see both parents. Asking them to live on one side of the world with one parent is one helluva decision to ask them to make - a huge decision a child should never be asked to make. They have a right to see both mum and dad regularly (and not via Skype).

Consider if you were the 'other' parent. How devasted would you be if your child was moved overseas to live with the other parent. Skype just wouldn't cut would it?

What's best for the child is the top priority, not fulfilling mum or dad's dream of living abroad. That can always be postponed.

Over-simplified - yes! But kids see things simply - and rightly so.

Re: Canada after divorce
 

If you live in England or Wales then the Court will determine this simply on the criterion of what is in the child's best interest. If you are able to show that contact with your ex will remain in place (via trips back or your ex coming to Canada), it would be difficult to envisage a judge not allowing this. Most competent family solicitors will be able to deal with such an application on your behalf.

Re: Canada after divorce
 

I agree. At the time of moving over with my daughters I could only see that it was the right thing for us all to do and it made such perfect sense. My ex-wife gave her support (and understanding) and therefore her permission but I look back and completely regret the decision to create such a large distance between my teen daughter's and their Mum.

It hasn't caused any large issues that I'm aware of, no particular problems of any note but I just don't feel as though it was the right thing to do.

Re: Canada after divorce
 

Well said.