{"id":5651,"date":"2024-05-16T13:41:18","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T13:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/blog\/?p=5651"},"modified":"2024-05-23T12:08:21","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T12:08:21","slug":"permission-take-children-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/05\/16\/permission-take-children-holiday\/","title":{"rendered":"Do I Need Permission to Take My Children on Holiday?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Can you take the children on holiday without permission from the other parent or the Court?\u00a0It depends. In this blog I will\u00a0set out\u00a0what\u00a0you need to consider. But as getting it wrong can have very serious consequences please get advice from a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/\"><em>family law expert<\/em><\/a>\u00a0if you have any doubts.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0important factors you will need to consider are \u2013<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is the\u00a0holiday in England or Wales.<\/li>\n<li>Or is it\u00a0elsewhere \u2013 Scotland, Ireland or abroad.<\/li>\n<li>Is it for less than 28 days.<\/li>\n<li>Has the Court made\u00a0a child arrangements order saying with whom the children will live.<\/li>\n<li>Do you\u00a0both have\u00a0parental responsibility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The holiday is in England or Wales<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If the children live with you, you can take them on holiday without permission. If they don\u2019t live with you, you can take them on holiday during a contact visit. But it\u2019s best if parents discuss holiday plans well in advance in order to keep things amicable and to avoid misunderstandings.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The holiday is elsewhere \u2013 Scotland, Ireland or abroad<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can take the children on holiday without the other parent\u2019s permission or the permission of the Court if \u2013<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>there is a child arrangements order saying\u00a0the children live with you, even if it\u2019s not all of the time (as long as\u00a0the time is defined), and<\/li>\n<li>the holiday is less than a month (usually defined as 28 days)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For the lawyers and law students among you, this is set out in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.uk\/ukpga\/1989\/41\/section\/13\"><em>s.13 Children Act<\/em><\/a><em>,\u00a0<\/em>the geographical extent of which is England and Wales.\u00a0For everyone else, please read your child arrangements order carefully and all the way through.<\/p>\n<p>But if the other parent doesn\u2019t have\u00a0<em>parental responsibility<\/em>\u00a0(see below) you don\u2019t have to consult them at all.\u00a0However taking a child abroad where there is no child arrangements order and without the consent of the other parent when they\u00a0<strong><em>do<\/em><\/strong><em>\u00a0<\/em>have parental responsibility is child abduction \u2013 a criminal offence. So if you have the slightest doubt, please get advice from a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/\"><em>family law expert<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Here again, don\u2019t forget to discuss your plans with the other parent in order to keep things amicable and avoid misunderstandings.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who has parental responsibility?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>all mothers<\/li>\n<li>fathers who\n<ul>\n<li>were married to the mother at the time of the birth or subsequently<\/li>\n<li>are named on the birth certificate\u00a0(from 1 December 2003)<\/li>\n<li>have entered into a parental responsibility agreement<\/li>\n<li>have a parental responsibility order<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Discuss your plans with the other parent\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This applies whether the children live with you or the other parent. Start discussing your plans as early as possible. Share your holiday itinerary. Take turns with\u00a0significant holidays such as\u00a0Passover, Easter or Ramadan.<\/p>\n<p>If the children don\u2019t live with you, you might be surprised how keen\u00a0the other parent\u00a0is for them to go on holiday with you. This doesn\u2019t mean they aren\u2019t a good parent, it\u2019s just that they need a break. And if the children live with you, remember to respect\u00a0their right to\u00a0enjoy quality time with\u00a0their other parent.<\/p>\n<p>If you can\u2019t agree,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/collaborative-law\"><em>collaborative law<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/how-we-do-it\/mediation\"><em>family mediation<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/how-we-do-it\/arbitration\"><em>arbitration<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0<\/em>or<\/li>\n<li>an application to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/how-we-do-it\/court-proceedings\"><em>Court<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>may be the answer.\u00a0In mediation or collaborative law, a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/moving-forward\"><em>family consultant<\/em><\/a>\u00a0can be involved to\u00a0help with communication or non-legal issues.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Discuss your plans with the children\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bracing walks on the coast might sound great to you but the\u00a0children might prefer to\u00a0laze around on a sunny beach. And don\u2019t forget the children have their own commitments. Is there something coming up they really don\u2019t want to miss? Or are exams on the horizon, should they be at home revising?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Make sure they stay in touch with the other parent\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When they\u2019re away on holiday, even if they\u2019re having a great time with you, they are likely to miss their other parent so work out in advance how and when they will stay in contact.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Seeing other family members<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t forget\u00a0holidays\u00a0are a valuable opportunity for children to see their\u00a0wider family.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Grandparents<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It can be difficult for grandparents to see their grandchildren, let alone come to an agreement to take them on holiday. See my blog\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/blog\/index.php\/2018\/11\/02\/do-grandparents-have-rights\/\"><em>Do grandparents have rights?<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Contact Us<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For Family Law advice contact \u00a0Joanne Houston on 01962 217640 for email joannehouston@just-family-law.com<\/p>\n<p><strong>Disclaimer: The topics covered in this blog post\u00a0<em>Do I need permission to take my children on holiday?\u00a0<\/em>are complex. They are provided for general guidance only. If any of the circumstances mentioned in this blog apply to you, seek expert legal advice.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can you take the children on holiday without permission from the other parent or the Court?\u00a0It depends. In this blog I will\u00a0set out\u00a0what\u00a0you need to consider. But as getting it wrong can have very serious consequences please get advice from a\u00a0family law expert\u00a0if you have any doubts. The\u00a0important factors you will need to consider are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[268],"tags":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5651"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5651"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5670,"href":"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5651\/revisions\/5670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.just-family-law.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}