How do parents experience relocation disputes in the family courts?

Abstract

Relocation cases are known to be amongst the most difficult decisions for family court judges. This article reports the findings of an empirical study of parents who were involved in relocation disputes, reporting their views on the experience of being involved in one of these difficult cases. We consider the origins of the disputes and parents’ perceptions of how their cases were resolved, as well as some initial discussion of the aftermath of the cases as seen in the first few months.

Keywords:

• Children
• relocation disputes
• family justice system
• parents’ experiences

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the 34 parents who gave up their time to talk to us about their experiences, and to the lawyers who helped us to get in touch with parents. This project was funded by a grant from the Nuffield Foundation, a charitable organisation with the aim of advancing social well-being. While the Foundation has supported our work, the views expressed are ours and are not necessarily shared by the Foundation.

Notes

1. We offer special thanks to Kay Bader, who recruited and interviewed the parents for this study, and also contributed to parts of our analysis of their experiences.