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Shared care arrangements in relocation cases
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Family analysis: Richard Jones barrister at 1 Garden Court Chambers discusses the practical implications of the judgment in JAL v LSW [2017] EWHC 3699 (Fam) which concerns how the courts should approach relocation cases where care of the child has been shared.
What are the practical implications of this case?
The judgment is a reminder that the essential task of a court is not to approach relocation cases in a ‘linear’ fashion where priority is given for example to the application to relocate
– it must be to weigh up the competing options as to the country in which the child should reside and the parental framework in which the child should live. To do this the court must engage in a comparative evaluation of the options available.
The case is of significance for its illustration of what Williams J termed ‘the tension which may creep into relocation cases where the party applying to remove a child has previously made allegations that the other parent has behaved abusively’.
The mother had made very serious allegations of emotional and physical abuse against the father which appeared to fall potentially...
Read the full article here.
