In the state of Victoria can one parent enrol a child at a different school without consent of the other parent?
My sister has recently left her husband and over the holidays they were civil and shared care of the children. However, on the first day the feather picked them up and refused to return them.
My sister picked them up from school during the next day and is now worried about sending them back to that school as he is likely to take them and not return them again.
5 Replies
If there are no court orders then either parent can pretty much do as they please. Change schools, not hand them over to the other parents ect BUT if it goes to court and one parent is seen to be withholding the children from the other parent that won’t look good on their behalf. Judges don’t like parental alienation
This sounds a bit petty. Is your sister withholding the children? Why would he refuse to return them? Was there any communication? You can't just change schools t o stop the other parent taking their own kids, that's not very good for the kids if anyone in this situation is thinking about them.
Go get proper legal advice. You will get conflicting advice. Your priorities must be with kids and how unsettling it would be to chop and change schools.
Your sister sounds very pathetic.
They are not HER kids. They are not OBJECTS that you own.
He has as much right to have the children as she does
If the husband takes the children and refuses to return them the mother can make an urgent application for a recovery order if there is any significant risk to the children. Other than that - The mum needs to write to the father and try to sort it out. I suggest to do this in writing as you may need evidence for court if you can’t get it all sorted. I would also place a call to a mediation service and get the ball rolling for parenting orders. If mediation is unsuccessful then the mum or dad can make an application to the court.