International family law solicitors

The children of international families have incredible advantages and opportunities. They will gain the culture, languages and experiences of their parents’ background. However, breaking up brings an additional level of challenge because of the need to keep the connections and involvement alive with all the countries involved within the family. This is an added dimension that international families manage and with which we are very experienced and able to assist with.

The challenge might centre around one of you wanting to move to a different country on the break-up of the relationship. This presents a terrible dilemma because your children are going to have to adjust to very different circumstances. It is likely to also lead to a very different kind of involvement with the parent who is in a different country to their children.

Our international family work includes helping our clients consider the best future arrangements for their children, trying to negotiate reasonable arrangements and assisting through court applications if necessary. If the other parent does not agree with your wish to take the family abroad, or even to go temporarily, the only way you can do it is to ask the court’s permission. We are very experienced in this field: whether it is to make an application to go permanently abroad or to try to ensure the child does not leave their family and roots in the settled country, and if they do, to ensure realistic and quality contact will take place.

Sometimes our clients are fearful that the other parent will take matters into their own hands and snatch the child abroad. We offer quick and urgent action to prevent this: going to court out of hours if necessary. Very strong measures can be set up extremely quickly if there is a real risk that a child is about to be abducted out of the country including alerting ports, police and other authorities.

We are also instructed to represent parents whose child has been abducted into the UK from other countries. We are very skilled and experienced in tracing the location of children. We apply immediately to the High Court and set the highest level of assistance and enquiries in motion to locate and identify the whereabouts of a child in the UK. We seek to have the passport of the parent who has abducted the child held, until the court makes a careful decision about which country the child should live in or which country should make the decision.

In the financial field many international families have property in different countries or move property or assets between countries. In divorce and financial disputes following the breakdown of a relationship, it is important to recognise the different powers that can be brought into play if property is abroad to stop money being dissipated or channelled out of the UK to avoid the court distributing it.

Sarah Beskine is a Resolution specialist in the field of international child abduction, and is authorised to receive work directly from the Lord Chancellors Central Authority, the prestigious International Child Abduction and Contact Unit. Christina Theodorou is highly experienced in international child abduction work.

To contact our international team email reception on reception@hmbsolicitors.co.uk.

Our Family Team can assist in all these matters.