moving abroad with dual nationals children.

[jubbi]

Hello mums,

Does anyone know about moving abroad with children who have dual citizenship?

Basically i am a french national and my two children are british and french. The dad is on the birth certificate.
We are separated and even though i do not plan on moving back to France in the immediate future, it would eventually be a possibility.
I know the dad has a say about my children residence but i want to believe that being the mum i do too. So i was wondering what will be my chances to successfully move back to France (or any other country as it matters). Will i need a writting authorisation from him?

And because i KNOW that he will never consent to anything, what will be my options? what kind of evidence will i need to provide to a judge to be able to move away?

thanks for your help.

PS: i need to add that we are currently going through mediation regarding child contact.

Hello Jubbi - I'm afraid on what you've posted it doesn't look that simple for you. If you google the Hague Convention you will see that the UK and France are both signatories to it. From what you've posted, the children's country of habitual residence is the UK and (presuming the father has Parental Responsibility) you will need the father's permission to take the children out of the country, even for a holiday. The only way you could take the children to live in france permanently is if you have their father's consent (which I would get put in writing and drafted by a suitably qualified solicitor to cover your bets). It doesn't sound like he will give you consent, in which case you can apply for something called "Leave to Remove" which is basically you applying to the english courts for permission to relocated the children to france and where they would look at issues such as who is the primary caregiver, whether they will be suitably provided for in france etc. If you move the children to france without either consent or leave to remove you risk being taken to court for abduction under the hague convention (been there, done that, in spite of my ex having given his consent). You might have more response posting this in the legal section.

Have a look at this website. Tho for parents of abducted children there's a lot of info on it and a list of lawyers.

www.reunite.org/