Taking child on holiday

[Name99]

Hi, I need advice on how to obtain permission from the court to take a child on holiday.
I know for access a form can be downloaded to apply yourself, cutting out the need for solicitors
Is there a similar process for taking a child on holiday?
The child is 17, the ex will dispute out of pure spite.
Can anyone advise please ?
Thanks

Very unlikely to be stopped at 17 but the relevant information is here:
www.gov.uk/permission-take-child-abroad#:~:text=You%20can%20take%20a%20child,order%20says%20you%20can't.

17? Surely don’t need permission at that age 😳

Surely once dc have their own passport it is their business?

Hardly! Even a newborn baby has their own passport.

The access court order is a child residency order
The ex will try and block this
Child is 17
The order states the child can not be taken out of the UK without written consent
There is no reason for the ex to stop this apart from pure spite, ongoing emotional abuse of the child

Doubt you are going to be stopped with a 17 year old it’s basically an adult!

I know, but there is a very good chance the ex will do this

How would the ex go about stopping it, is it a phone call to the airport or do they need to go down a legal route

I'd just not tell him you are going. It's a bit late once your gone and before you know it the child will be an adult.

Just don't tell them?

The ex will know, the child will need to get belongings from the house to go on holiday, I wish it was that simple
As soon as the ex finds out they will be raging and will try stop it
The child lives between the 2 homes and spends more time through there own choice with the parent who wishes to take them on holiday

Please don't listen to people telling you not to go down the correct legal route as advised on the gov website, particularly if the access/custody etc has been fraught.

The bottom line is: yes, until the child is 18 parental consent needs to be obtained. If it's refused, then you can go back to the courts and the refusal (particularly at 17) will 99.99% be overturned as the child's own wishes will be considered.
However, as I said, although it's highly unlikely that a 17 year old travelling with one adult would be stopped and the consent documents requested, it's not unheard of. So don't risk it. Bear in mind too, that they won't be requested on exit from the UK but on entry to the second country or coming back into the UK.

The other parent "stops" it by not giving consent. If you are at the airport and asked for a consent letter, and don't have one, then you are either refused entry and you have to come back, or if the border official of the country in question is prepared to, they may contact the other parent. They are under no obligation to do so however. Ringing the airport of departure is a film scenario. He'd ring the police if anything and report an abduction. And the police would take it from there.

As I said, at 17, you are unlikely to be stopped. But if you are, then you need the letter. Some countries require the consent to be officially witnessed.

Why would they stop it at 17? This all sounds very strange

lawstuff.org.uk/home-and-family/holiday-without-parental-consent/

It's crazy op it really is.

Thank you
I know for a fact if permission is requested it will be a no, it's not been an issue in the past but this occasion it will be due to current circumstances
Can a request be made to a court without involving the expenses of a solicitor as you can with the do with downloading the c100 form yourself

Anyone with parental responsibility can block a child's passport so that they are flagged at the airport as being abducted.

If you ex is being nasty this is the route he will likely take.

Yes, the ex will do this, has already threatened to do this and probably will
The ex is very unreasonable it will just be pure spite.

I want to know how I can get permission from the court without getting permission from the ex as it will not be granted by them
The 17yr old very much wants to go on the holiday

Ringing the airport of departure is a film scenario. literally happened to me, ex gave permission then waited until we were on the way to the airport to call and rescind permission, getting dd's passport flagged.

Hope you find a way to sort it op, must be some sort of mechanism. Isn't it a child arrangement order that allows resident parent to take child abroad without consent for certain lengths of time?

There is no reason for the ex to try stop this, no safe guarding issues or back story
The ex is abusive and unwell
Police and social services have been made aware of exes behaviours over other issues and the court, SS and the police have all said the 17yr old is free to make their own decisions about where they spend the majority of the time and that specific details of days and dates for access in the original residenct court order are pretty much irrelevant due to the child's age.
SS and the police have been made aware of the exs behaviours over the years, everything is logged

Yes resident parent is free to do what they want with regards to foreign travel, but not non resident parent, permission must be requested and granted

So are you - as far as the documentation is concerned the non resident parent?

That isn't true I'm afraid.
Even in families where the child lives with both parents and there is no residence in place, if the child travels abroad with only one of those parents, the other needs to give consent.
(Not only is this my day job, but DD and I travel frequently without DD's dad (who is dozing on the sofa next to me) and consent is needed.
Only a sample of minors travelling with only one adult will be stopped, and of those, most will be men. In a certain sense it would be easier if there was a blanket rule in place, so everyone knew that they would be stopped, like there is in lots of other countries.

(isn't true about the resident parent being allowed to do as they wish) Quote didn't work.

Unless you have a court order saying the child cannot live with the other parent?
That doesn't seem to be the case?

"You automatically have parental responsibility if you’re the child’s mother, but you still need the permission of anyone else with parental responsibility before you take the child abroad.

You can take a child abroad for 28 days without getting permission if a child arrangement order says the child must live with you, unless a court order says you can’t."