The mother had remarried and now wished to move to the United States with her new husband, an American. The father had played an unusually large role in caring for the child as a baby and continued to keep closely in touch with her. The judge said that it was a finely balanced case but gave the mother leave to remove the child permanently from the jurisdiction. The father appealed.
Held: Thorpe L referred to Poel and subsequent reported cases and said: ‘these applications for leave are always difficult cases that require very profound investigation and judgment. But not a lot is to be gained by seeking support from past decisions, however superficially similar the factual matrix may appear to be. In my judgment, the approach that the court must adopt in these cases has not evolved or developed in any way since the decision of this court in Poel v Poel.’
Judges:
Thorpe J
Citations:
[1998] 1 FLR 848
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Confirmed – Poel v Poel CA 1970
The mother of a child of two and a half had obtained a custody order with weekly access given to the father. She wished to emigrate with her new husband and the expected child of that marriage to New Zealand. She applied to remove the child . .
Cited by:
Cited – Payne v Payne; P v P CA 13-Feb-2001
No presumption for Mother on Relocation
The mother applied for leave to return to New Zealand taking with the parties’ daughter aged four. The father opposed the move, saying that allowing the move would infringe his and the child’s right to family life. He had been refused residence.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Children
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.417811