Bursting Bubbles: The One Day of Christmas

Earlier this month, Family Law published my article summarising Government Guidance on the formation of Christmas Bubbles for a five-day period between 23 and 27 December 2020.

In light of the Prime Minister’s announcement on Saturday, 19 December, that Guidance has now changed with effect from 00:00 on Sunday, 20 December. What follows is a summary of the new Guidance, which is law, for England only (each of the four countries of the UK has its own regime, details of which are available on the appropriate Government websites).

First, and importantly, minor children of separated parents may still move between their parents’ homes, even if one or both parents lives in a Tier 4 area (although as noted below neither household may then form a Christmas Bubble). And, buried in the exceptions to the general travel restrictions is clarification (from all four Governments) that this includes such children moving across borders; so, for example, a child may move between her separated parents if one parent lives in, say, Edinburgh and the other in Berwick-upon-Tweed. 

Read the full article here.