When a couple with a child are no longer living together, the court sometimes has to decide whether one of them, usually the mother, should be allowed to move abroad taking the child with her.  A recent case in the Court of Appeal placed renewed emphasis on the welfare of the child and warned that guidance given by the Court of Appeal in a previous case should not be followed slavishly – the earlier guidance had led to a lot of ‘relocation’ applications being granted.

The recent case involved an element of shared care.  The position now appears to be that the closer the arrangements are to the child being looked after 50:50 by the parents, the harder it will be for one of the parents to persuade the court to be allowed to take the child to live abroad.  It is important to remember however that every case turns on its facts.