Greetings. Yes, he may be able to stop the child from moving to the UK. If you want to ensure that he does not do this, start now to negotiate a fair and equitable travel schedule for visitation with him. I cannot think of a solution that you would agree to that would be so flexible that you would lose the care and custody of your child. Thank you.
Janet L. Fritts
Attorney with Rosen Divorce
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.256.1665 direct fax
10925 David Taylor Drive, Suite 100
Charlotte, North Carolina 28262
704.644.2831 main voice
704.307.4595 main fax
The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service but a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action.
I have a question about moving with my child to the UK. My husband is a British citizen and we have been considering moving there so that he can be close to his 11 year old son. The only real issue is that I have a 4 and a half year old and his father is less than pleased that we are considering an over seas move. My husband and I have come to the decision based on a number of factors and believe that by moving to the UK both fathers will be able to have visitation with their sons whereas if we stay in the US my husband will not be able to see his son very much at all while his residency application is being processed (immigration has turned out to be much more difficult than we expected). My son’s father was not present for the first 2 years of his life and is therefore not on the birth certificate and we have never had any kind of formal custody agreement. He has paid child support since he came back into the picture and he has visited my son on weekends since December of 2002. He started off visiting every weekend when he lived closer to us but then took a job in Charlotte and began visitation every other weekend when possible. I’ve allowed him to be a part of my son’s life and would like to continue to do so because I believe it’s important for my son. I’ve been flexible by allowing him to determine how much child support he could afford to pay and allowing him to determine when he would visit. My question now is… can he prohibit me from moving to the UK with my husband? What steps do I need to take to assure that I can move there and be able to travel back to the US so my son can see his father without running into a nasty battle down the road? His father and I have agreed not to square off on this situation… but I don’t want to be too flexible and end up in a case where he could try to take my son from me. Thanks for your help!