A father has been granted a court order to return his eight-year-old daughter to England so that an assessment regarding her long term residence can be completed.
The father was from Scotland and the mother from Italy. The daughter had spent her life living in England until 2010 when the couple divorced.
The father agreed to let his former partner take their daughter to live in Italy, on the basis that he still had parental responsibility and was allowed regular contact.
In 2013, the mother returned to England and put her daughter in a local school. The father applied for residency, with the belief that his daughter was now set to remain in England.
Before courts grant residency of a child to one parent over the other, specific assessments must be carried out by officials regarding the requirements of the child and the best long term solution.
However, the mother took the girl back to Italy, before the assessments had been made.
She requested that the case be dealt with in Italy.
The father took action requesting a court order for the return of his daughter so that the residency assessment could be carried out.
The court ruled in favour of the father and ordered the mother to return her daughter to England. It pointed out that the residency order should be dealt with in England, as the process was already underway and the court was familiar with the details of the case.
The daughter could live with her father if the mother didn’t return with her.
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