Relocating abroad with the children: what is required, and what the court examines
A parent has no independent right to take the children to another country. Either the other parent consents or the court permits it, and the question examined is not whether the move is justified but whether it serves the child.
"This is the proceeding where the gap between what a parent feels and what is examined is widest. Nobody asks whether you deserve a fresh start. They ask what will happen to the child."
Adv. Ester Efrati · Head of the Family and Inheritance Department
The rule: consent or permission
Determining where a child lives is a parental function, and both parents are the child's guardians. A parent therefore cannot move the child to another country on their own initiative, even where the child lives with them permanently.
There are only two routes. The other parent's consent, which should be set out in a detailed agreement and filed for the court's approval. Or permission from the family court, granted in a separate proceeding and not as part of the divorce file.
Two situations are often confused. A move within Israel is also examined, but on a more lenient standard, and the main question is whether the existing arrangement remains workable. Relocation abroad is examined far more closely, because it materially changes the relationship with the parent who stays.
Even where relocation is approved, the permission is almost always conditional. The court sets a new contact arrangement, sometimes with guarantees, and those are an inseparable part of the decision.
The test: the best interests of the child
Where the parents do not agree, the court decides by the best interests of the child. That is the sole standard, and everything follows from it.
The point parents find hardest to accept: there is no need to prove that the relocation is necessary, and it is not enough that it is justified. A wish to start again, a new relationship or a work opportunity are legitimate facts, but they are not the question. The question is what will happen to the child if they move, and what will happen if they stay.
Hence a symmetry that is not always understood: the court is not choosing between the parents or ranking them. It examines two future scenarios, and in each of them looks at stability, settling in, and the continuation of the relationship with both parents.
A relocation case is therefore run differently from an ordinary custody case. The work lies not in allegations about the other parent but in presenting a full, evidenced picture of life in the destination country.
The factors weighed
The case law has settled a list of considerations that recurs in almost every relocation case. These are the main ones.
- The quality of the relationship between the child and each parent, and how the move is likely to affect it.
- The ability to maintain contact with the parent remaining in Israel: distance, time difference, the cost of flights, and who pays.
- The applicant parent's willingness to maintain that contact in practice and not merely to undertake to. This is a significant and sometimes decisive factor.
- The child's prospects of settling in in the destination country: language, educational framework, extended family, immigration status.
- The child's age and wishes, with the weight appropriate to their understanding.
- The applicant parent's stability in the destination: employment, housing, a support network.
- What happens if relocation is refused, a question asked less often and weighing more than expected.
The weight of each factor varies with the child's age and the circumstances. There is no checklist to complete.
The leading case
The leading authority is RAA 4575/00, in which a mother applied to move to London with her son about five months after the divorce. The district court refused, and the Supreme Court set the standard that has applied ever since.
Two central holdings: a relocation application is examined by the best interests of the child alone, and the determination of what those interests are rests on expert opinion rather than on a general impression.
The practical effect was a change of direction. Until then the approach required the applicant parent to show a strong justification for the move. Since then the starting point is a substantive examination of the child's interests, with no threshold requirement to prove necessity.
Later case law also made clear that a parent's right to get on with their life and build a new family is taken into account, balanced against the right of the child and the other parent to a continuous relationship. Here too, the balance is struck through the child rather than between the parents.
Expert opinions and the welfare report
In a relocation case the court almost always relies on professionals, sometimes on more than one. This is the proceeding in which the weight of expert opinion is among the highest in family law.
A welfare report by a social worker for court procedures is the basis. In many cases an expert opinion is added, from a psychologist or psychiatrist, examining the relationship with each parent and the child's prospects of adjusting to the move.
What is actually examined is not only the present but the future scenario: what the child's routine will look like in the destination country, what the relationship with the parent who stays will look like, and what each of the two options implies.
Preparing a relocation case is therefore different from preparing a custody case. Evidenced material about the destination is needed: immigration status, a work permit, housing, the possibility of enrolling in a school, and a support network. A plan not backed by documents reads as an idea rather than a plan.
Conditions and guarantees
Permission to relocate is almost always granted subject to conditions. Their purpose is single: to ensure that the relationship with the parent remaining in Israel is preserved in practice and not only on paper.
- A detailed contact arrangement: how many visits a year, in which country, in which holidays, and who travels.
- Regular remote contact on fixed days and at fixed times, allowing for the time difference.
- Allocation of the cost of flights and accommodation, a common source of later dispute.
- Guarantees: a deposit, a surety or a charge, intended to secure performance of the arrangement.
- Recognition of the arrangement in the destination country, so that it is enforceable there and not only in Israel.
- A bar on any further change of residence without a fresh application.
An applicant does well to bring a detailed proposal for these conditions in the claim itself. Such a proposal demonstrates real willingness to preserve the relationship, which is precisely one of the factors examined.
Opposing a relocation
The opposing side is also run differently from what most parents expect. Opposition focused on the applicant parent is weak. Opposition focused on the child is strong.
- What the child stands to lose: framework, friends, extended family, language, and any therapy in place.
- What will actually happen to the relationship: distance, cost, time difference, and what is realistic to sustain over years rather than in the first year.
- How well founded the plan is: whether there is status, work and housing, or only an intention.
- Your own parental record: documented involvement rather than declared involvement, over time.
One urgent tool worth knowing: a stay of exit order in respect of the child. Where there is a real concern that the child will be taken out of the country without permission, an urgent application can be made. It is a remedy meant to preserve the position until a decision is given, and it should not be used tactically where no genuine concern exists.
A final point: blanket opposition with no willingness to consider any arrangement usually reads as a difficulty in co-operating, and it harms the objector.
Leaving without permission
Taking a child out of the country without the other parent's consent and without the court's permission is not an ordinary civil dispute. It is examined under the Hague Convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction, to which Israel is a party.
The mechanism is essentially simple: an application is made in the country to which the child was taken, and the question there is not which parent is more suitable but whether the removal was wrongful. As a rule the proceeding is directed at returning the child to the country from which they were taken, where the custody question will then be decided on its merits.
The consequences do not end with a return. A unilateral departure severely affects the parent's credibility in any future proceeding, and sometimes the extent of the parenting time later set.
So even where a parent is convinced they are right, the only route that does not harm them is to apply to the court in advance.
In summary
Relocating with children is among the hardest decisions in family law, because no outcome leaves everything as it was. What is examined is not the justification for the move but the best interests of the child, which include the ability to keep both parents.
Two things affect the outcome more than anything else: how well founded and documented the plan in the destination country is, and how far the applicant parent shows in practice a willingness to preserve the relationship with the other parent. Both are built before filing.
If you are considering relocation, or an application has been brought against you, contact us to examine the position and how to prepare.
To speak with us: Jerusalem 02-5953322 · Tel Aviv 03-3030430 · WhatsApp 050-4411343
What people ask most
May I move abroad with the children?
Not on your own initiative. You need the other parent's consent, best set out in a detailed agreement filed for approval, or permission from the family court. Determining where the child lives is a matter for both parents even where the child lives with one of them.
What does the court examine in a relocation application?
The best interests of the child alone. There is no need to prove the move is necessary, and it is not enough that it is justified. The court weighs the quality of the relationship with each parent, the ability to maintain contact in practice, the applicant's willingness to maintain it, the child's prospects of settling in, and the child's age and wishes.
How long does the proceeding take?
It is a relatively long proceeding, usually many months, mainly because of the need for a welfare report and often an expert opinion. That should be weighed against work timelines or the school year in the destination country.
What material is needed to support an application?
Evidenced material about the destination: immigration status, a work permit, housing, the possibility of enrolling in a school, and a support network. Also a detailed proposal for the contact arrangement with the parent who stays. A plan not backed by documents reads as an idea rather than a plan.
Is permission ever granted without conditions?
Almost never. The court usually sets a detailed contact arrangement, regular remote contact, an allocation of flight costs, sometimes guarantees such as a deposit or surety, and recognition of the arrangement in the destination country so that it is enforceable there too.
What happens if the other parent objects?
The application is decided on its merits. Opposition focused on the child, on what they stand to lose and on what is realistic to sustain over years, is far stronger than opposition focused on allegations against the applicant.
What is a stay of exit order?
An order preventing the child being taken out of the country. It can be applied for urgently where there is a real concern of departure without permission. It is meant to preserve the position until a decision is given, and should not be used tactically where no genuine concern exists.
What happens if a parent leaves with the child without permission?
The matter is examined under the Hague Convention on international child abduction, to which Israel is a party. The application is made in the country to which the child was taken, and the question there is whether the removal was wrongful. As a rule the proceeding is directed at returning the child, and custody is then decided afterwards.
Does a move within Israel also require approval?
It is examined, but on a more lenient standard. The main question is whether the existing arrangement remains workable. A move to a distant city that makes the parenting time impracticable may amount to a change that justifies a hearing.
Do the child's wishes matter?
They are heard, and their weight grows with age and understanding. In relocation cases the court also examines what lies behind the wish, and is careful to check whether it reflects an independent view or pressure from one of the parents.
What happens to child support after a relocation?
It is re-examined. A change in the extent of parenting time affects the calculation, and the cost of flights and contact is also taken into account. It is worth settling this together with the permission rather than leaving it to a later stage.
And if relocation is refused?
That is a question the court asks, and it is worth thinking about in advance. A parent who states that they will stay in Israel if the application is refused presents a different picture from one who states they will move regardless, and both positions carry weight in assessing the child's interests.
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A short assessment call with a lawyer from the department, in which we will go over the plan in the destination country, what needs to be documented and obtained, and the contact arrangement worth proposing at the filing stage.