taking step child to germany

lee634

This happened to me with my two stepsons,

As i got Parental responsibility for the boys and changed their surnames through the court. There was no need for a residency order as I am now legally allowed to make decisions about where they live.

I would have a quick check with the solicitor though, but IMHO I believe you have everything by law that you need.

strong96

thanks for that Lee, am going to solicitor today just to double check everything is ok and nothing else needs doing, i know we're not posted till july but dont want anything left to last minute.

bumblebeebaby

i went to see a solicitor specialising in family disputes when i split with my childs dad ref this and other points and she said he couldnt do a thing as i was employed by the forces and its part of my job to get posted abroad sometimes. its not as if i was choosing to live somewhere else i was getting sent there. not sure how right this is and if she just had a different opinion to others.

Alias_Omega

Its all about Parental Rights.

I think in 2005, the rules changed on parental right, it was that if you were unmarried and had a child, the father gained no parental rights, but if the father went to court or married the mother then they were gained.

Now its that the father has parental rights, even if married or not.

MoneyHoney

As bumblebeebaby has mentioned:

because this is part of normal living circumstances of the family unit and usual employment of the wage earner the courts will view this in the interests of the child/family i.e. to refuse permission would have a detrimental effect resulting in either the family unit being split up or the wage earner leaving their employment.

I split from my partner whilst in Germany with the forces and my child and i did not have to return to UK. I was the wage earner and had to stay to keep my employment, which in effect is UK employment. My ex left Germany, no contact since and no idea where he is. We've since been over in Germany as the new family unit (with step dad) but it is best to check things out legally.

I'm currently busy with the legal process involved for emigration which, rightly so, is a bit more complicated.

strong96

ok, went to my family lawyer today, as i have residancy order that daughter lives with us and she is 12 nearly thirteen i do not need his permission to take her to germany, nor do i need to apply to the court neither, this i have been told is because on the divorce the ex agreed and it was cleared with the court that she lives with me permanently, aswell as the fact that within the forces we are still classed as habitually resident in the uk and that its not permanent just a posting.

Trying_to_be_good

I've seen this from the other side, where children are taken out of the UK by the Resident Parent with no permission from the (fully in contact and maintenance-paying) Non-Resident Parent as the Resident Parent had chosen to marry a soldier already serving in Germany.

The law is there to protect the kids and provide them with contact with the NRP - not all NRPs are baddies, and the emotional cost in having the kids taken out of the country is enormous, as well as making contact difficult, less frequent and vastly expensive.

lee634

Trying_to_be_good wrote: »

I've seen this from the other side, where children are taken out of the UK by the Resident Parent with no permission from the (fully in contact and maintenance-paying) Non-Resident Parent as the Resident Parent had chosen to marry a soldier already serving in Germany.

The law is there to protect the kids and provide them with contact with the NRP - not all NRPs are baddies, and the emotional cost in having the kids taken out of the country is enormous, as well as making contact difficult, less frequent and vastly expensive.

Fully understand what you are saying, but in this case this is totally irrelevant, The biological father has no contact with the child and doesn't pay maintenance.

Therefore the previous answers are more in tune with the original question being asked.

Trying_to_be_good

lee634 wrote: »

Fully understand what you are saying, but in this case this is totally irrelevant, The biological father has no contact with the child and doesn't pay maintenance.

Therefore the previous answers are more in tune with the original question being asked.

I totally appreciate that, but didn't want anyone else looking at the thread thinking it's always like that. Just trying to offer the balance.

strong96

a balance is needed, if my daughters father had contact and paid maintance etc then yes it would be a hard choice to remove her to germany, but as he doesnt have any interest what so ever and she sees her step dad as dad then its an easy choice, i think sometimes though some ex's try to stop you out of spite not that they are concerned or care, i'm just glad thats a worry i now dont have and everything can run smoothly