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- A Gauteng woman has been granted permission to relocate with her two minor children to the United Kingdom.
- The woman brought an urgent application for permission after the children's father was opposed to their relocation.
- The court ordered the father to pay his ex-wife's legal fees.
A woman has secured an order from the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg that allows her to take her two minor children - a 7-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son - with her to the UK when she relocates along with her new husband.
The children's father was opposed to their relocation, but the court found in the woman's favour.
The woman, a senior accountant, and the children's father divorced on 28 February 2020.
"Primary residence was vested with the [mother]. The [father] was awarded reasonable rights of contact," Acting Judge F Bezuidenhout said in judgment on Tuesday.
The Children's Court amended the divorce order on 16 August 2021 and the Maintenance Court on 18 October 2021.
Both the mother and father have since remarried. The mother intends to emigrate to the UK with her husband and told the father the news in December 2020.
Their father, however, was opposed to the idea, so she approached the court for relief.
The parties agreed to appoint independent psychologist Dr Robyn Fasser to investigate whether the relocation was in the children's best interests and the respondent's application for a primary residence.
Findings
"Fasser found that the boy's vulnerability appears to manifest as anxiety exacerbated by stress as his parents' acrimony and the prospect of relocating and not having his father readily available.
"The applicant appears to be better able to contain his anxiety for when he is with her," said Bezuidenhout.
Fasser also stated that it could not be discounted that the boy was more demanding of his father's one-on-one input because he could fear that he could easily be replaced in his father's life by his step-siblings - even more so if he were to relocate.
Bezuidenhout added that Fasser's assessment revealed that the girl saw her father as an important figure but saw her mother as equally important.
"Although she considers both parents equally important, she may be marginally more attached to her mother. The minor girl's narrative about not wanting to relocate with her mother to London mirrors her brother's response.
"Fasser observed that the [father] was appropriately parental with his children, although it appears that the children do experience his home context as fun-filled and that he engaged on a child level, given that there are four children in the home."
Fasser also established that there was absolutely nothing that the parties could agree on.
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"The issue of maintenance is no exception. What is apparent, though is that the applicant carries the lion's share of the children's expenses. She has exclusively paid for the children's private education in South Africa, their private medical aid, medical excesses and extramural activities," Bezuidenhout said.
The woman's employer secured immediate temporary accommodation for her and the children in Wandsworth.
As soon as the children obtain their visas and live in London, she will be able to enrol them at their new schools.
Bezuidenhout granted the mother "leave to permanently remove the minor children from the Republic of South Africa to London, the United Kingdom".
"The respondent shall sign all documents and do all things necessary to assist the applicant in obtaining their children's passports, required permits and visas for their departure from South Africa and her entry into the United Kingdom within three days of being requested to do so.
"The respondent shall have contact with the minor children during their school holidays and ensure that the children are returned to the applicant no later than 48 hours before the beginning of the children's next school term."
"The respondent shall be entitled to exercise additional contact with the children at reasonable times should he visit the United Kingdom or the children be in South Africa."
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Bezuidenhout added that the man should have daily contact with the minor children via video calls or any other suitable electronic communication between 17:00 and 19:00 UK time.
"The [mother] shall keep the [father] advised of the minor children's physical and emotional wellbeing, academic progress, their involvement in sporting, cultural or other extramural activities and shall furnish the respondent with copies of the reports regarding their academic, cultural and sporting progress.
"The [mother] will have regard to the [father's] views and wishes and shall consult him in making any major decisions regarding the children's education. The [mother] shall remain liable for the minor children's educational costs, including their schooling fees.
"The [father] shall continue to make maintenance payments to the applicant in favour of the minor children as provided for in the current prevailing maintenance court order," Bezuidenhout ruled.
The court ordered the father to pay the costs of the application, including that of the mother's senior counsel.
