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Children's 'wishes and feelings' in relocation disputes [2016] CFLQ 151
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Judy Cashmore Professor Sydney Law School University of Sydney AustraliaPatrick Parkinson Professor Sydney Law School University of Sydney AustraliaKeywords: Relocation - parental separation - children's viewsThis article presents the findings of a qualitative study of the views and experiences of 33 children from 20 families who were caught up in relocation disputes in Australia and followed for up to five years after the dispute ended. A small online survey of children who travel to see a parent provided another source of information; together they provide a window on the worlds of children in these circumstances. The interviews and surveys both indicate a range of views about the move before it occurred. Some children were happy to move some ambivalent and others were opposed. Relationships with step-parents were a complicating factor. Some children reported poor - or at least distant - relationships with a parent's new partner and this affected their view about the merits or otherwise of the relocation.
For those children who did move there was sometimes a difference between their locational adjustment and...
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