Saturday 3 September 2011

Updated Content - Leave to Remove Case Law

In the July 2011 judgment K (Children) [2011] EWCA Civ 793, there is mention of a case which at that time was unreported, and where leave to remove was refused in the High Court.

"139. Very recently Theis J in C v D [2011] EWHC 335 (Fam) took the same approach as Hedley J in a case in which the children spent 20 days with their mother/10 days with their father during term time and the holidays were split equally."

In C v D, heard in the High Court by Mrs Justice Theis DBE, it is worth noting her judgment based on considerations set out in the Welfare Checklist (section 1(3) of The Children Act 1989) and her finding that relocation was not in the children's best interests, despite accepting that her decision would be devastating to the mother who wished to emigrate with the children.

"65. Having carefully considered all the evidence and the welfare checklist I have come to the clear conclusion that the welfare of each of these children is met by the mother's application being refused. I recognise that this will be devastating for the mother but I have come to this conclusion primarily based on the evidence that the children are thriving under the regime the parents have devised in this jurisdiction and the adverse impact on their time and relationship with their father if they did move to south USA. For the reasons set out above I do not believe it can be effectively replicated if the children move to south USA and that any different regime will not meet the children's needs. With the welfare of these children as the lodestar by which I am guided I am satisfied that the move to south USA would not meet the welfare needs of these children, however disappointing that decision will be for the mother."

The case C v D is now added to our Case Law for Kindle - Leave to Remove Case Law Reference Book which includes the following cases:

K (Children) [2011] EWCA Civ 793
Re Y (Leave to Remove from Jurisdiction) [2004] FLR 330
Payne v Payne [2001] EWCA Civ 166
LinkAR (A Child: Relocation) [2010] EWHC 1346 (Fam)
C v D [2011] EWHC 335 (Fam)
W (Children) [2009] EWCA Civ 160
Re F (Children) [2003] EWCA Civ 592

The Kindle reference book now includes URL addresses and hyperlinks so that the case law can be downloaded to a PC in PDF format, and printed.