Originally Posted by whitelinen

Parental Responsibility in the UK is meaningless these days as is automatically granted to married parents to allow the CSA to get child maintenance if and when they separate.

However, for instance, it does not give a divorced parent the automatic right to contact or even to see the the kids, this has to be done through the Court.

Can you imagine the queues at passport control if every adult with a child or children was questioned! How would anyone know if the adult was single, married divorced or widowed? For instance, I have a friend who despite having been married 3 times retained her maiden name throughout on her passport and has 3 kids with different surnames.

I actually dont think there is a UK law that states that someone with parental responsibility can stop another from taking their kids on holiday. Ive looked and cannot find it.

Maybe someone can find it as would be interested to read it if it exists.

Originally Posted by Unmutual

What work do you do at the moment Juan?

Originally Posted by The Oddities

If one parent refuses to sign a letter giving permission they can be taken to court and the court can rule and give permission. Children in care have to have a letter from the head of Social Services as they are deemed to be the person with responsibility.

Rosemary

Originally Posted by dmu

thanks for that!

Originally Posted by The Oddities

Unless it has changed it is an S10.

Rosemary

Originally Posted by dmu

What is?

Originally Posted by amideislas

First, welcome to Spain...

The rents may be cheaper here, but be prepared to pay a lot more for other stuff.

Bear in mind that the utility companies do not have much competition (and the competition they do have legally colludes with them anyway).

There is less consumer protection from gross misrepresentation in Spain than in other countries.

For example, the widely advertised €29.95 per month all-inclusive flat-rate for internet and telephone will be likely charged at €50, €60, or more per month, regardless of what they put in writing on their website, in an email, or tell you over the phone as you place your order.

There is little recourse for this. The Spanish equivalent of OFT is largely impotent against blatent misrepresentation - especially when large, powerful companies are the perpetrator.

The larger utility companies hold a licence to impose whatever charges they wish - and force you to pay it.. Up to a reasonable limit that isn't blatently outrageous, but they will collect €1000's in overcharges out of you over time - €10 euros here, €50 euros there.... Most people just learn to get used to it. To fight it is simply too complex and overwhelming. You will find the bureacracy to be stunning.

You will be amazed at how car dealers and car repair shops will routinely misrepresent everything. Car dealers routinely and blatently lie to you about the car they are selling you. Major car repair shops will routinely claim that they had to replace every possible gadget on your car to repair it (only when the repair is finished and you are given a bill that causes you a heart attack) - and some will even drain the fuel out of your tank as an added bonus. A repair job that will cost you 100 quid in the UK can easily cost you €1000 here, and the full tank you brought the car in with will often be empty when you pick it up. But there's little you can do about it, and it's completely normal.

Spain is not quite civilised yet. So keep that in mind for your planning of move.