Court of Appeal’s groundbreaking decision on leave to remove applications

The Court of Appeal’s groundbreaking decision on leave to remove Applications was dealt with in the case of Re K (Children) [2011] EWCA Civ 793 on the 7 July 2011.  In this case, the Court of Appeal refused mother’s Application to remove the children from England and relocate to Canada.  Mother was Canadian, Father was Polish.  The parties enjoyed a shared care arrangement for the children with the children spending 5 nights 6 days with Father and 9 nights with their Mother in every 14 day period.  The Judge in the first instance granted Mother’s Application and the Father appealed.  The Court allowed Father’s appeal.  Their Lordships agreed that the only principle to come from a previous case was that the welfare of the children is paramount.  The rest is guidance to be applied and distinguished depending on the circumstances.  It now appears that any Application where there is a shared care arrangement in place in respect of the children will cause more difficulties in persuading the Court to allow relocation out of the jurisdiction.  However it was emphasised that all of the facts on each case must be considered by the Court when making the decision.