Relocation cases are always extremely difficult for courts to adjudicate on as they usually mean that one parent or the other is going to see a lot less of their children and so there are no winners in all of this. When the children become habitually resident in one country it can be extremely difficult for one parent to get permission from a court to relocate back to their own country as this will naturally mean that the other parent is going to see a lot less of them and so compelling reasons must be put forward. A case in today’s Irish Independent demonstrates this: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/mother-wins-fight-to-take-children-to-australia-35252877.html
Proposal to reduce divorce wait to two years
Josepha Madigan, family law Solicitor and TD, has introduced a Private Members Bill to allow the time that you have to be living apart from your spouse before you can apply for a divorce from four years to two. This is a much needed development as society has changed in the 20 years since divorce was introduced. Such a change, which requires a referendum, would mean an end to the two stage separation process that we have in this country which is unfair to spouses and also to the children caught up in a separation. Ironically, same sex couples who entered into Civil Partnerships only had to wait 2 years for a dissolution of their partnership and this reflected the fact that civil partnership was introduced at a time when societal attitudes to break up of relationships had changed. You can view a recent Irish Times article by clicking on the link below.