International Child Custody Solicitors
If your child has been taken abroad, or you are separating across borders, the English courts can often help you sort out where your child lives and who they see. The starting point is usually your child’s habitual residence: the country where they normally live. Acting early makes a real difference, above all where a child has been moved or kept abroad without consent.
International cases involving children are a core part of our work, and many clients come to us mid-crisis: a child who has not come home from a holiday abroad, or a planned move overseas that has broken down. Our managing director, James Maguire, is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL), sits on consular and FCDO panels, and has spent more than 30 years on exactly these cases. For full credentials and embassy panel appointments, see our international family law hub.
Please note: Maguire Family Law is a private family law firm and does not offer legal aid funding. Non-means tested legal aid is automatically available through the English courts only for parents seeking the return of a child who has been wrongfully brought into England and Wales from another 1980 Hague Convention country. If you are an overseas parent needing this help, or if you need legal aid for an outgoing case, the Civil Legal Advice helpline (0345 345 4345) can help you find a suitable solicitor.
International Child Custody
What does an international child custody case involve?
If your child has been taken abroad, or you are separating across borders, the English courts can often help you determine where your child lives and who they see. The starting point is usually your child’s habitual residence: the country where they normally live. Acting early makes a real difference, above all where a child has been moved or kept abroad without consent.
A quick note on language: “custody” is an older term. In England and Wales, the courts now make child arrangements orders that set out who a child lives with and spends time with. We use “custody” here because it is the word many parents still search for.
We regularly help parents with:
- Which country should decide arrangements for your child
- Returning a child taken abroad under the 1980 Hague Convention
- Preventing a child being removed from the UK
- Permission to move abroad with a child (relocation)
- Recognising and enforcing a foreign order in England and Wales
- Contact and handovers across borders
When you might need an international child custody solicitor
Most of our clients come to us in one of these situations:
- Your child has been taken abroad without your agreement. You need urgent advice on getting them returned under the 1980 Hague Convention.
- You are worried your child may be taken overseas. You want to prevent removal before it happens.
- You want to move abroad with your child. You need permission from the other parent or the court before you go.
- You and your child’s other parent live in different countries. You want workable arrangements for contact across borders.
- A custody order was made abroad. You want it recognised or enforced in England and Wales, or you disagree with it.
- You separated overseas and have returned to the UK. You want to know which country should decide arrangements for your child.
If your situation does not match these examples, that is normal. International children cases are often one of a kind. Get in touch with us, and we will discuss what applies to your circumstances.
Which country decides custody?
In most cases, the country where your child is habitually resident. That is usually where they normally live and go to school. The English courts can make decisions about a child who is habitually resident here, and in limited situations for a British child living abroad.
We advise on:
- Jurisdiction: which country’s courts should deal with arrangements for your child, and how to act quickly when more than one country is involved.
- Habitual residence: the legal test that decides where your child’s case belongs.
- The 1996 Hague Convention: how it settles which country has jurisdiction and helps orders take effect across borders.
- Competing proceedings: what happens when a case is started in two countries at once, and why timing can be critical.
My child has been taken abroad without my consent.
This is urgent. Contact a specialist solicitor straight away. If your child has been wrongfully removed from, or kept away from, their home country, the 1980 Hague Convention can be used to secure their prompt return.
- Wrongful removal or retention. Taking or keeping a child abroad without the other parent’s consent or a court order can be child abduction.
- The 1980 Hague Convention. Over 100 countries have signed up. It is designed to return a child quickly to their home country so the courts there can decide long-term arrangements.
- Non-Convention countries. If the country has not signed the Convention, we can advise on other routes, including making the child a ward of the English court.
- Legal aid may be available. If your child has been brought into England and Wales from another Hague Convention country, you are usually entitled to non-means tested legal aid to secure their return. For outgoing abductions from the UK, different funding rules apply.
For the full treatment of abduction and return proceedings, see the international family law hub.
Can I move abroad with my child?
Only with the agreement of everyone who holds parental responsibility, or with the court’s permission. Taking your child to live abroad without this can be treated as abduction.
- Get consent in writing, or apply to court. If the other parent agrees, record it clearly. If they do not, you will need a relocation order (also known as leave to remove).
- The child’s welfare comes first. The court weighs your reasons for the move, the effect on the child’s relationship with the other parent, and how contact will continue.
- A thorough plan matters. Schools, housing, finances, contact proposals, and travel arrangements all strengthen an application.
- Opposing a move. If the other parent wants to relocate and you disagree, you can ask the court to refuse permission.
Take the first step to a new chapter
Call or email us today for an initial no obligation consultation.
Will a custody order made abroad be recognised in England?
Often, yes. Orders from many countries can be recognised and enforced here, above all under the 1996 Hague Convention.
- Recognition and enforcement. A valid foreign order can usually be given effect in England and Wales, so you do not have to start again from scratch.
- Mirror orders. A matching English order can support a foreign order here, and an English order can be mirrored abroad before your child travels.
- When arrangements are disputed. If circumstances have changed, or the order does not reflect the child’s current life, we can advise on applying to vary it.
For the wider picture of international work with children, see the international family law hub.
Arranging contact across borders
When parents live in different countries, contact needs to be practical as well as fair. The issues that come up most often are:
- Contact built around school terms, time zones, and travel costs. A clear schedule reduces conflict and gives your child certainty.
- Video and indirect contact. Regular calls keep the relationship going between visits.
- Handovers and travel. Who travels, who pays, and how young children are accompanied all need to be agreed.
- Building trust. Where there is a history of concern, safeguards can be built into the arrangements.
What to look for in an international child custody solicitor
If your case crosses borders, look for a firm that can:
- Move quickly in an emergency. In abduction and relocation cases, your solicitor should be able to get before a court within days, and sometimes hours.
- Bring in a lawyer in the other country when needed. Membership of a recognised international network like the IAFL means coordinated advice in both jurisdictions, not just one.
- Know the Hague Conventions in depth. The 1980 and 1996 Conventions sit at the heart of most international children cases. Your solicitor should use them daily, not occasionally.
- Handle documents from another country. Foreign orders, translations, apostilles, and notarisations should be routine work, not unfamiliar territory.
- Be upfront about cost. You should leave the first conversation with a clear sense of the work involved and the likely range of fees.
Maguire Family Law is built for this kind of case. James Maguire is a Fellow of the IAFL, sits on consular and FCDO panels, and has spent more than 30 years running international and cross-border matters. For the full credentials, see our international family law hub.
Contact us
If your child has been taken abroad, or you are facing a decision about relocation or cross-border contact, we are here to help. Call us at 01625 544 650 or fill out our contact form to set up your first consultation.
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Our specialist solicitors
Speak to one of our international family law solicitors
If you are facing a family law issue that involves more than one country, we are here to help. Call us at 01625 544 650 or fill out our contact form to set up your first consultation.
