ACT Family Court - Opinions in Relocation?

[Saara]

Hi there,

I have been separated from my estranged husband for almost a year. The relationship ended badly and I had to acquire a DVO so that I could leave with my daughter. My child spends pretty much all her time with me with the exception of day time visits with her father once a fortnight.

There are no formal arrangements governing my daughter's care as he has refused to sign a parenting plan. Now my daughter just doesn't want to go there and spends as little time with him as possible. CSA enforce payments based on my full time care.

In a nutshell, I have no family here and no friends to rely on. I am a full time mother and I work full time (Now I'm also my own lawyer). I'd like to move to NSW to be with my mother and friends for some help and much needed support but I'm not sure of the timing involved.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has successfully applied to relocate and what I can expect. Am I likely to get approval to relocate given my circumstances? Should I start applying for jobs first, or apply to the courts for permission to relocate first? The waiting list for family court in ACT is around 2 years. Is this wait time also applicable to relocation?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[sammy01]

You're not gonna like me... I'm gonna pretend to be your ex's solicitor.

His argument - you refused him access to the child unless he sign your parenting plan. He refused to sign it... Well another way of looking at that is you tried to coerce him into signing something that was inherently unfair and you were not prepared to compromise - your way or the highway...

You have minimised his time with the kid... So has he expressed a desire for overnight care? and have you refused? Not good?

Your daughter doesn't want to go to dad? Or...You have encouraged the daughter to have a negative opinion of the dad.

You now want to move away and that will mean even less opportunity for child to get to know dad...

DVO's are often used as a tactic in family law... Magistrates are all over this one.

My thoughts - ask dad for his agreement to move...

If not then apply to court. Chance of succeeding, well that depends on how hard he fights it. If you think he won't fight then you could risk moving without his consent. Given there are no orders in place then technically you're not doing anything wrong... But if you move without consent or without even asking him and he does challenge it in court you're screwed.

What I think your looking for is - what are the chances? No one can give you a definitive answer.

No point looking for work because no employer is going to keep a vacancy open for you for the year or so it is gonna take to get approval

 

[Lennon]

How old is your daughter? How would you propose to facilitate contact between your daughter and her dad? Are you prepared to pay the cost of travel?

I am in this situation with my kids because my ex moved across the country after we separated, and while she profits from her decision by reaping a 100% child support assessment, our children suffer as a result. They are never happy because they are always separated from one of us or the other. It sucks and I don't recommend doing it to your child.

 

[Blessing]

There's a lot that goes into deciding is it's in the best interest of the child when it comes to relocation, how old is child?

I'm sure you are aware for court it's important for child to have a relationship with both parents, you will increase your chances if you can show that it won't be affected, he can still see child every fortnight or every month.

There's very low chance of success in getting a relocation order if it's driven by desire to keep the child father out of her life.

I applaud your decision to get orders first before moving, i know lots of other people just move and deal with orders later.

 

[Corinne]

You don't seem to be putting much effort into encouraging your daughter to have a positive relationship with her dad and the court will see this so no, your chances aren't good. And yes, without the father's consent to relocate with the child you'll have to wait the two years for the matter to be heard.

Your best bet is to pull your head out of your butt and try to engage in positive communication with your daughter's father and who knows, you might be able to come to a reasonable conclusion without the need to litigate.