Relocating with a Child, Within the UK and Abroad

Legally reviewed by: Matthew Cannan Jun 2026 In: Child Care

Feature | In collaboration with Matthew Cannan, Head of Care – Birmingham

When a separated parent wants to relocate with a child, whether to another part of the country or overseas, they are asking the court to accept a different path for that child’s life. In some cases, the move may be entirely reasonable. In other cases, it may reshape the child’s relationship with the parent left behind. The court starts with no pre-determined view for or against the move. There is only the welfare of the child, weighed on the facts of the case.

Relocating With a Child Within the UK

A parent who has primary care of a child is not under a specific legal obligation to apply to the court before relocating within England and Wales. That said, it is good and proper parenting to tell the other parent, and anyone else with parental responsibility, about a proposed move.

Where the other parent does not consent, the matter can go to court. The parent who wants to move can apply under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 for a Specific Issue Order. The parent opposing it can apply under the same section for a Prohibited Steps Order. In practice these applications put the same question to the court from opposite directions.

The Welfare of the Child Comes First

The court weighs all the facts and circumstances and decides whether the relocation is in the child’s best interests. That is true whether care is shared or there is a clear primary carer. Shared care does not prevent relocation. The court treats it as one factor among many, not as something that decides whether the move goes ahead.

For many years the courts treated internal and external moves differently, with internal relocation permitted unless there were exceptional circumstances. However, that distinction no longer holds. In Re C (Internal Relocation) [2015] EWCA Civ 1305, Bodey J stated that there is no difference in basic approach between external and internal relocation, and the decision in either type of case turns on the welfare of the child. The wishes, feelings and interests of each parent matter, and so does the effect of the decision on them, but these factors must always be part of evaluating the welfare of the child rather than a separate exercise.

This is the same welfare principle that runs through the rest of children law, set out in section 1 of the Children Act 1989. Here it is simply applied to a move.

Relocating Abroad With a Child

International moves are different. A parent who wants to take a child to live abroad needs either the consent of the other parent, preferably in writing, or the permission of the court. Consent from a parent who does not hold parental responsibility is not always strictly required, but obtaining it is good practice and can help avoid complications later down the line.

In the event that consent is refused, the matter comes before the court, and the welfare of the child remains the paramount consideration.

The Payne v Payne Checklist Explained

Payne v Payne [2001] 1 FLR 1052 set out a series of questions that remain useful in relocation cases. For a time, the courts came close to treating Payne as a blueprint, but that is not how it should be applied. It works instead as a useful checklist for the welfare evaluation and the balancing exercise, not as something that should determine the outcome.

Payne set the questions out in stages. First, is the application genuine, in the sense that it is not driven by a wish to shut the other parent out of the child’s life. Second, is it realistic, meaning built on practical plans that have been properly researched. An application that fails either question will be refused.

If the application passes both stages, the court weighs the other parent’s opposition. Is that opposition driven by genuine concern for the child, or by something else. How far would the move damage that parent’s relationship with the child, and how far might that be offset by the child’s new relationships with family in the destination country. It also asks how a refusal would affect the parent who wants to move, assuming the plan is a sound one. Those answers do not decide the case on their own but help answer the question of what is in the child’s best interests.

Applying the Welfare Checklist

Whether the move is internal or international, the welfare checklist sits at the centre of it. In a report, the most useful thing you can do is set the checklist out and apply it point by point to the facts, so the reasoning behind your conclusion is there to see.

What the Court Considers in a Relocation Case

The detail varies from case to case, but the following considerations tend to recur.

The motivation of each parent, both the parent seeking to move and the parent resisting it.
The living arrangements at the destination. Is there a home to move to and is it a short-term arrangement or something for the medium to long term.
Education. Has a school been identified and is there a place for the child.
How the move will be funded.
The support network of family and friends, both the one being left behind and the one available at the destination.
Employment and childcare.
The effect on the child of any change in language and culture.
Proposals for contact between the child and the other parent and wider family, and how that contact will be funded and made to work in practice.
The effect on the parent who is left behind, and on their relationship with the child, set against the effect on the applicant of a refusal.
The health needs of the child.

Mirror Orders and Enforcing Contact Abroad

Once a child has moved abroad, the courts here usually lose their power to make decisions about the case, so the contact arrangements must be ones that will work in the new country.

The court looks at what can realistically be arranged. That means the practical side, which depends on distance and what the parties can afford, and the legal side, making sure any contact ordered can actually be enforced. The court will usually set contact arrangements to run after the move, and the parent relocating should be ready to explain how they would actually be enforced once the child is abroad.

If the destination country has signed the 1996 Hague Convention, Child Arrangements Orders made before the move will usually be recognised and enforced there, though it is worth checking what that country requires before they take effect. If it has not, you may be able to get a mirror order in the destination country or find another way to secure contact that fits the particular case.

The Child’s Wishes and Feelings

As in any children case, the child’s own views carry weight. The court will want to understand what the child thinks about the proposed move and whether they fully understand what it would mean. The court will also be aware of the possibility that a child has been influenced by one parent.

The older the child, the harder it is to make an order that goes against what they clearly want, and often there is little point in trying. Whether their wishes settle the case is for the court to decide, but they will always be considered.

Preparing a Strong Relocation Application

Relocation cases ask the court to choose between two futures for a child, each with real losses attached. There is no presumption either way and no shortcut through the welfare analysis. The parent who comes to court with researched proposals and realistic contact arrangements, and who can account honestly for what the child gains and loses, gives the court what it needs to decide.

If you are considering a move with a child, or a co-parent has proposed one, the children law team at Cartwright King can advise on your position and the options open to you.