Can My Daughter Be Forced To Live In England?

[Dusty Bin]

My daughter currently lives just outside Liverpool with her daughter and, until recently, her partner. They haven’t been getting on and now he’s moved back in with his parents in Warrington. Although we hoped they may sort things out, it’s got to the stage that they’re now fighting. My daughter cannot afford the rent on the flat she’s in and wants to move back home to Northern Ireland. She can transfer her job from Liverpool to the Belfast office, but her partner/ex says she can’t take her daughter out of the country away from him and his father works for Social Services on Merseyside and will help him prevent them moving home. So my question is because Northern Ireland is part of the UK is there a legal process that he can use to stop her moving back to Belfast or is she free to leave?

[barry1010]

Is her partner named as the child's father on the birth certificate?

[jno]

she sounds okay to me, she's not leaving the country or its legal system. However, other posters with a better handle on NI law should be able to give you a fuller answer.

[LadyCG]

I wouldn't have thought it is a Social Services issue - more a case for the family court if there was to be a challenge. Social Services are stretched to the limit and I doubt they would intervene unless there was a safeguarding issue.

Did the ex-partner happen to put this idle threats in an email or text or was it just verbal?

[barry1010]

There is no need to get consent/permission from others with parental responsibility to move anywhere within the UK, so yes, she can move to NI and her ex can't do anything about it

[chelle7272]

She can move within UK,he would have to apply to court to stop her and it would have to be in the child's best interest.
https://www.wiselaw.co.uk/children-issues/parent-child-relocating-uk-divorce/#:~:text=While%20there%20is%20no%20legal,court%20has%20considered%20your%20case.

[Buenchico]

>>> is there a legal process that he can use to stop her moving back to Belfast

There is certainly a legal process that he can try to use. He can apply to a court for a Specific Issue Order or, possibly more likely in this case, a Prohibited Steps Order. However, given that the proposed move is within the UK, I doubt that such an order would actually be granted by the court.

[LadyCG]

^^ He'll just have to suck it up then :-)

[Dusty Bin]

Thanks for your answers.

Yes, he is named on our granddaughter’s birth certificate.

Only threats, and that’s a strong term, have been verbal.

Going to have read of that link - thanks chelle7272.

[New Judge]

Would he have similar objections if she moved to London? What about Scotland (especially the islands)? Or maybe Cornwall.

You can fly from Liverpool to Belfast in less than an hour for under thirty quid.

[Dusty Bin]

Absolutely! It’s easier to get from Liverpool to Belfast than it is to many places in England. He says our daughter wants to take our granddaughter “out of the country”, but our argument is it’s all one country as NI is still the UK.

[calmck]

First the primary custodial parent needs to be established or a shared custody agreement needs to be initiated.
Second if one parent is given primary custody then visitation needs to be arranged for the non custodial parent.
If the mother moves to N Ireland then travel arrangements need to be in place for visitation.
How old is the child, does she need a guardian ad litum to represent her if she is old enough to say who she wants to be her primary parent.
Here in Portugal when a child of separated/divorced parent reaches the age of 12 the child can go before a family court judge and make its wishes known if the parents and child cannot agree on visitation and custody

[Peter Pedant]

She just does it
and waits and sees what he does

she obviously has to have a ready argument ( = set of reasons) to explain it is in the best interests of the child - able to live strikes me as a good one

yes it is part of the united kingdom

[Skyline D]

I'm not a lawyer myself and Scots Law is no doubt different (I'm in Scotland) but when my marriage ended in divorce I was assured by my lawyer that my former wife could not move the children out of the region or change schools without my agreement or a Court Order agreeing it was in the best interests of the children.