my ex has moved with my daughter

hello there,

used wikivorce for my div some time ago and have completed consent order aswell.

we have mutual agreement on "joint custody"
and i have my daughter for over 110 days in each year.i pay cm on a private agreement to her.

my ex has met someone recently and has moved in with him and will rent out the fmh.this is some distance away from the fmh.

she didn't tell me about this in advance and has also stated that she doesn't need to seek my authority to take my daughter out of the country etc!!

i am pretty sure with both pr and our joint custody stance, she is ill advised on both points.

also,there must be other issues she needs to take into account with working tax/child tax credits now she is domiciled with a higher wage earner!!?

does my daughter's school need to be informed on the change of her circumstances?

many thanks in anticipation,

mm

how far are we talking about distance wise? is your daughter going to need to change schools?

Moving house is a grey area - it is unlikely a court would stop her when it comes down to it but she should have discussed it with you if it's going to mean a change to your arrangements with your daughter. She is herself in charge of her tax credits etc. so it is up to her to inform the relevant people - if she doesn't, she runs the risk of serious problems. I am assuming, of course, you are not named on the tax credit claim still? Her moving in with someone will have no affect on your maintenance payments (if she were going through the CSA, I note you have a private agreement). Your daughter's school will only need to know a change of residence although sensible parents would inform the teacher of any major changes to a child's life.

I have never got my head round whether my ex needs to know if I'm leaving the country but it is reasonable she takes your daughter on holiday (a court would allow it), but she should be discussing it with you in advance as obviously again it will impact on contact arrangements. I would personally expect to receive details of outward and inbound flights and would be happy to provide these to my ex when the situation is reversed. I think it is pretty normal practise for the resident parent to hold the passports but if visas need to be obtained or the passport needs to be updated prior to travel ( you often need at least 6 months left on your passport before travelling), you will obviously need to get hold of the passport prior to that - courts will help with this. I have seen the handover of passports written into court orders before now.

many thanks

not changing school [i hope]

the move will incure a ten mile round trip to school every day!

thanks again

PR means you have the right to be consulted about major decisions about your daughter such as education, medical treatment, changing names and moving abroad. It is reasonable to inform you where your child is living but if your ex is living in the same area, your arrangement for shared residence isn't affected and your daughter isn't changing schools she doesn't need to consult with you about where she lives or who she lives with.

When there is a residence order in a parent's favour they can take a child on holiday abroad for up to one month without consent from the other parent. IT isn't black and white, but that can be construed to mean that when there is a shared residence order both parents can take their children on holiday without consent from the other parent.

If there is no residence/shared residence order strictly speaking consent to go abroad on holiday is required or permission from the courts not to fall foul of the Child Abduction Act 1984.

However, under the Act it isn't an offence to take children abroad on holiday if consent is unreasonably refused. Unless there is a history of not complying with contact orders it would be unreasonable to refuse consent for the usual one or two weeks family holiday once or twice a year therefore consent is really just a formality.

PS Is there a financial settlement? If there is no property adjustment order your ex would require your agreement to rent out the former matrimonial home.

thanks fiona

we completed the consent order beginning of last year.she got fmh +cash adjustment..

so i suppose prop adj doesn't apply??

thanks

mm

The property adjustment order is the one that transferred the FMH to your ex. It's now her property and she doesn't need your consent to rent it out.