A helpful judgment handed down by DDJ Nahal-Macdonald, following an application by the mother to relocate to Poland with the parties’ 7-year-old child. The judgment sets out the relevant case law to apply and emphasises the ‘holistic approach to balancing the competing arguments for and against her relocation’, noting that this is not an ‘arithmetic exercise’ but involves a finely balanced assessment of the child’s best interests, noting that the child’s welfare will tip the balance one way or the other.
Ms Rocha and Ms Gonella represented the Mother and Father respectively in this case. After careful consideration, the judge concluded that the relevant factors (as set out in the welfare checklist and case law) tended in favour of M’s application for leave to relocate to Poland. The Judge reasoned that ‘the most pertinent factors are the offer of high-quality education, quality of life and lower cost of living, along with the offer of a close maternal familial network. The offer of gainful employment, the likelihood of lower cost accommodation, financial, emotional and practical support from parents and siblings, the much lower cost of living and the promise of a multilingual school are all compelling features in this case’.
In post-script, the Judge considered arguments as to transparency in the family courts and whether to publish the judgment. https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewfc/b/2024/283