Fathers are not just for Christmas

Recently I attended a debate devoted to the highly emotive issue of relocation. I voiced the opinion that too little weight is given – still – to the damage caused to a child when one of their parents leaves the jurisdiction. I said that parents who choose to have a child together have a fundamental duty to do everything in their power to ensure the child has a good relationship with both of them.

I didn’t think it was a radical position to adopt and as was mentioned during the evening most other jurisdictions take a far less flexible approach than we do on relocation. But I can report that it is certainly not a view universally shared by family lawyers in London in 2015.

It has been a long journey since Payne v Payne [2001] EWCA Civ 166 [2001] FLR 1052 even longer since Poel v Poel [1970] 1 WLR 1469 began haunting the corridors of the family courts. Sadly though there haven’t been the milestones that we might have expected given the...