Custody battles in court may result in shared custody arrangements, despite parental wishes to the contrary. What this means is there are limitations on the children’s location.
Moving or travelling overseas
Relocation arguments often end up in court, where one parent wishes to take the children to live somewhere else, away from the other parent. You must obtain written consent from the other parent or have a child custody order from the court that allows travel.
Children’s passports
A parent can refuse to consent to the issue of a child’s passport. Both parents’ signatures are typically required for the issue of a passport. Consent to travel overseas must always be given by both parents. If a parent refuses to consent, an application can be made to the court to allow it without the other parent’s consent.
Child abduction laws
If one parent tries to remove a child from the country, it can be considered child abduction. A parent can put another parent onto the Federal Police watch list, disallowing movements outside of Australia. Breaching these orders is not looked upon kindly by the courts.
If a parent does leave with the children, the children may be ordered home by the Family Court under the international Child Abduction Convention (the Hague Convention), applicable in 85 countries.
Parents of children who have been taken outside of Australia without their consent should get legal advice (Vanessa Ash can help), and contact the Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department. If it’s done soon enough, the parent and children can be held at the other end when they get off the plane.
Most Asian countries are not part of the Hague Convention.
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