will i need a residency order for my own kids?

[lou33]

i was talking to a friend last night, who i found out has had her oldest dd taken from her by her exp

when she called the police they wouldnt do anything as they said the dd was not in danger and neither of them had a residency order specifying where the girl should be living (had all been informal for the last 8 yrs)

now i am wondering if i need to get one myself, in case when exh comes back to the uk he tries to do the same.

do i need to? am really worrying about this now

thanks for all this, i'll have to do some thinking i can see

Lou - are you concerned about him taking the children out of the country or just removing them within the UK? Chipkid has explained the position if it is in the UK. If you are worried about him taking them out of the country though then then police would be interested as it would be child abduction without your consent.

Thanks chipkid

Just going home, Lou - good luck and let us know how things go.

A simple measure to ensure he doesn't take them abroad would be to make sure their passports are not anywhere that either he or the children can access them.

Do they all have passports? If not, apply for them to ensure that he can't.

not worried about taking them out of the country

I should say Lou33-that my answers to you were on the basis that you were going to apply for a Residence Order where there was no stated intention on the part of your ex to take the children or to try and assert that they should live with him.

To put your mind at rest-you are the primary carer for these children-he has gone away. If he comes back and tries to fight you for residence of these children through the Courts he will face an uphill struggle. They live with you. They are happy in your care no doubt. A Judge wouldn't change that without extremely good reasons.

Please try not to panic. Talk to a solicitor if you are really worried that he is going to try anything daft.

Not sure if it will help but when x refused to give ds back (when he was at his house) and it all kicked off with his girlfirned and i thought ds was in danger the police couldnt do anything as ds was his for the night. They could only do something if xdp refused to give him back when he was on my time.

thanks everyone, especially chipkid, i feel a lot less panicky now