NSW Relocation Overseas - Impact on Current Consent Orders?

[ChrisC]

Hi All,

I have a 12-year-old that I share custody of children with my ex.

We have had consent orders in place since our breakup 6 years ago. We have 50/50 custody and there have never been any problems sticking to the order. It's a part of our lives now and it's routine. My ex and I don't collect child support from each other. We had an assessments done a while ago and I think it worked out that he should pay me $20 a month or some small amount. So we went on a private collect agreement. Our salaries are almost equal and we split all costs like uniforms, after school sports, etc. We have a friendly, respectful and low conflict Co-Parenting relationship.

Today ex tells me that he wants to move to the UK in Jan 2019 for at least a year. He is originally from England. Our son is a dual Aussie Citizen. He wants to start having discussions with me regarding this and our son. I think he will suggest that our child visits the UK in school holidays. I am gutted for my son as he is incredibly close to his Dad and this will rock his world.

I am worried as how becoming a full time custodial parent will affect me. Here are some questions that I have thought of:

- Current consent order is 50/50. Will that need to be changed before ex leaves?

-Will ex have any obligation to pay child support while is is overseas? He too is a dual citizen and he owns a property in Australia.

-If ex is overseas, will I still need his permission to change schools for example?

Sorry if this is rambling, I am still in shock.

I would appreciate anyone's help of what questions I should be asking or things that I need to start working on.

 

[Rod]

Give it a week before doing anything. It is not good to take actions while in shock. Although this presupposes your ex is not going to make any decisions in the next 7 days that impact on him moving next year.

You need a bit of time for this news to sink in. Prepare questions though, ready to discuss with your ex. After the week is up, arrange a meeting and discuss all your issues directly with your ex.

Then see where things go from there.

 

[sammy01]

Ok so let's be optimistic. What if the kid did a year or even 6 months with dad? So keep 50/50 just swap about how it happens. I'm a teacher, I have an Italian and a Chilean student in my class atm. Sure those two kids are a bit older than your son... But what an eye opener of an experience for those kids... If dad is intent on going, you can't stop him.

So to answer your questions:

- Current consent order is 50/50, will that need to be changed before ex leaves?

No - you guys can do whatever you want if you agree. No need to go to the expense of getting new orders.

-Will Ex have any obligation to pay child support while is is overseas?

He too is a dual citizen and he owns a property in Australia? Yes CSA in Australia have a reciprocal arrangement with the UK.

-If ex is overseas, will I still need his permission to change schools for example?

Yes, but it sounds like you guys mostly manage better than most, so it should not be a problem and if it is, then you can tell the ex that he can apply to court and he will quickly work out it ain't worth the fight. So while shared parental responsibility exists (in theory and in principle) it ain't exactly that simple in practice, especially not when on the other side of the planet...

 

[ChrisC]

Thanks for the responses. I really do understand why he wants to go home. He isn’t happy in Australia and has no family support here. I am just upset about how my Son will feel. We have an arrangement that he spends 2 days with dad then me then Dad etc. And he is a fabulous father who my son adores.

I had a talk with my ex on the phone today and he said that he would fly our son to England in April and then September. Ex would come to Australia at Christmas. I am open to the idea of my Son spending a substantial amount of time in England in the future say 6 months of the year. But I am not ready for that to happen yet. He is starting high school next year and I would want him to be about 15 or 16 before I consider letting him spend 6 months at a time with each parent.

Does anyone know if the child support would need to be worked out before ex leaves the country? He is a dual citizen and said he would be renting out the property he owns in Sydney

 

[sammy01]

You could have that conversation with him. You'd be within your rights in this country to ask csa to collect and they can collect from his taxable income in England