Do I have a right to know to which foreign country ex is taking dc on holiday?

[Lexinoonoo]

I am resident parent with ex having contact specified in CAO. We are still to have final hearing, but Cafcass have made contact recommendations following two reports and a fact finding in which he was found to be abusive and harassing towards me (prob not relevant).

He is saying he wants to take dc abroad during his contact next summer. He has previously sent me numerous communications talking about wanting to take them to war zones and unsafe countries. He may well have said these things in order to scare and upset me, and I have no issue with him taking them to safe overseas destinations, but these previous communications have got me a little worried and wanting to know where he intends to take them. He won't tell me.

Do I have any right to know? Could I ask court to get involved given the previous communications and hearing coming up this spring? Or is final hearing too late raise a new issue?

No it’s not too late to raise the issue.

I would want to know and like fuck would they be going to a country where he could keep them there.

He has no connections to any other country outside the UK, but even when we were together he talked about going off in a camper through Eastern Europe and on to some dodgy destinations. Again - I don't know if that was done to upset and scare me, as he spent a good proportion of time doing that.

So I can still bring it up now for the court?

You would be required to give permission. Mention this to your solicitor. There are cases when it’s not acceptable to take a child abroad - eg risk of abduction.

Don’t let him. He can’t go if you have their passports. Let him apply to court to be able to take them abroad, he’s messing with your head.

If you are the RP and it's stated in a court order you are the RP, you can take dc out the country without permission, but the NRP needs your permission (unless you are overruled by the court). You don't have a right to know where but it's reasonable to request it's written into the order that details are shared prior to the holiday. It will likely mean you also sharing details of your holidays too though. Not a lawyer, by the way, but I have been through the family courts.

I’m shocked that a parent does not have the right to ask where their child is being taken to abroad.

Apply for their passports and keep them safe, you'll have to hand them over if he takes you to court but that'll take. A while Nd then you can get it written in the order that he shares flight and hotel details (and vice versa for your holidays) for all holidays.

I'm quite happy to share foreign holiday details with him (less so UK hols as I wouldn't trust him not to randomly turn up in the same place), so this is what I should ask court for? We must both share details with each other prior to going? Would I have a right to object if the details he shared were not an appropriate destination for young children?

Unless the CAO specifies that the children live with him, he cannot legally take the children out of the country without your consent. I wouldn't force him to go to court - that would just make you look unreasonable. But, in my view, it would be reasonable for you to refuse to consent unless he tells you where he is taking your children.

You need to get legal advice on this. You ar enot too late to raise it and you should state to your solicitor you are concerned he will take them to unsuitable places.

@Doyoumind

If you are the RP and it's stated in a court order you are the RP, you can take dc out the country without permission, but the NRP needs your permission (unless you are overruled by the court). You don't have a right to know where but it's reasonable to request it's written into the order that details are shared prior to the holiday. It will likely mean you also sharing details of your holidays too though. Not a lawyer, by the way, but I have been through the family courts.

This isn’t strictly true. I’m the RP but I had to get permission from exH to take DS abroad and it had to be in writing. Also years ago my DM and I got stopped on the border into Canada and they asked for the letter from my DD giving permission to travel and she had sole PR they didn’t care. Luckily I was old enough for them to talk to me and take my word (unlike the Canary Islands who wouldn’t take my word that the person in front of them was definitely my grandma and could take me home, unaccompanied minor flying) that he knew and was happy for us to be out of the country.

I would always travel with a note overseas based on my own experience as a child.

From personal experience of traveling with DC who don't share my name or nationality, I have to get a "Permission to travel abroad" document from their Dad and it often gets checked because of the name/nationality difference.

The document has to state the DC names, passport numbers, dates of travel (including return to UK), destination, name and passport number of the adult that they are traveling with, and that the other parent has given permission for this specific trip.

I usually include flight details as well, but not where we are staying.

I sometimes have to write it as "gives permission to cross the land border between countries X and y, between dates a and b" if I'm not sure exactly when I'll drive to see certain relatives who are just across the border in a different country from my parents.

Anyway, your ex is very unlikely to get far without a similar, explicit permission document.

I'd ask for it to be specified in the court order that any permission to travel documents have to specify flight details.

If you are the RP with a CAO that states the DC live with you, you really don't need permission. You can travel abroad for 28 days, as I said. Just being an RP without a CAO that states that isn't the same.

@HosannainExcelSheets

From personal experience of traveling with DC who don't share my name or nationality, I have to get a "Permission to travel abroad" document from their Dad and it often gets checked because of the name/nationality difference.

The document has to state the DC names, passport numbers, dates of travel (including return to UK), destination, name and passport number of the adult that they are traveling with, and that the other parent has given permission for this specific trip.

I usually include flight details as well, but not where we are staying.

I sometimes have to write it as "gives permission to cross the land border between countries X and y, between dates a and b" if I'm not sure exactly when I'll drive to see certain relatives who are just across the border in a different country from my parents.

Anyway, your ex is very unlikely to get far without a similar, explicit permission document.

I'd ask for it to be specified in the court order that any permission to travel documents have to specify flight details.

This is more like what I’d have thought. I’d think it strange if the law forced a mother to hand over her children to go abroad without being told where.

Consent usually would include “where”. If parent refuses consent, non resident parent could apply to the courts. However they would want to know “where”. So it’s best to be open and reasonable.