Having a fresh start after the divorce is natural. At least, one party should move out of the home. When the kids are involved, the father generally moves out to avoid the disruption that is created in the daily life of the children. Even at times, both the parties move out separately due to the financial issues. In cases where the kids are involved, the parents remain in connection with each other. But, some move away for avoiding the painful memories and relocate to a very far away land. It can cause challenges to access the parent if he is non-custodial. However, he will not face any legal issues.
Children’s Act in South Africa
The vital piece of legislation for all the matters concerning the kids is the ‘Children’s Act 28 of 2008’. The main principle that describes all the provisions of the Children Act is that “in all matters concerning the care, protection and well-being of a child the standard that the child’s best interest is of paramount importance must be applied” (Section 9). However, this act does not refer to the relocation of a single parent or the other, or it does not even legislate the consent methods too. Section 18 reveals it clear that if one particular parent wants to move outside South Africa, the consents of both are needed. But, when one parent wants to relocate to other places within South Africa, the situation is less critical.
As the legislative controls are not so strict, the decisions coming to the court have been made on the case-by-case basis.
The Parents Have Rights Too
One of the interesting features of the Children’s Act described above is the provision in section 18 for the parents who are having the shared guardianship to act independently without having the consent of the other parent like relocation within the same nation. However, as the act is having only the overarching concern for the rights and interests of the child, he or she depends upon the maturity level and age, should be informed and consulted before deciding for relocation. It also allows the other parent to be informed as well. Furthermore, this act also protects the rights of the non-custodial parent does not automatically make the decision invalid. But, the decision can be reviewed later on as well.
Neutrality Rules
Some other cases have taken a neutral approach and given equal opportunity to the views of both the parents. It is worth noticing that one example of the neutral case is that the children of the couples are 11 and 14, and so their views on one of the parents want to move to some other countries from South Africa and marry and the children can spend time with both of them after divorce.
If you are one of them who are going through issues and want to get divorced from your partner, it is the high time to hire Family law attorneys in Cape Town to support you in the legal process and to help you to deal with the crisis.
