There may be good reasons for wanting to move abroad with your children after a separation. Even if you have lived in Norway for many years, your ties to another country may be stronger. If the parents come from different countries, there is often conflict about which country the children should live in after a separation.

When you have sole parental responsibility

If you have sole parental responsibility, you can, as a general rule , move with the child to another country without the other parent's consent , cf . the Children Act, Section 40, first paragraph. However, you are obliged to notify the other parent no later than six weeks before the planned moving date.

The parent who does not have parental responsibility can then bring the case before the court and demand a share of parental responsibility. In this way, it is possible to try to prevent the other parent from moving abroad with the children.

If there is a legal dispute regarding parental responsibility, you cannot move out of the country until the court has given its consent to the move. The same applies if there is a dispute about where the child should live. This applies even if you have sole parental responsibility.

When parental responsibility is shared

If the parents have joint parental responsibility, both parents must, as a starting point, agree that the children should move abroad.

If the parents cannot agree, you can bring the dispute before the court. The court can then decide whether the children can move with you.

Previously, if the court was to grant permission for a move, the person who wanted to move also had to be granted sole parental responsibility. This was unfortunate because the clear general rule under Norwegian law is that parents should have joint parental responsibility even if they no longer live together, cf. Section 35 of the Children Act. This made it particularly difficult to obtain consent to move.

Following a change in the law, which came into force on July 1, 2016 (Prop.161 L (2015-2016) 6.2 Current law), the rules were changed. The court can now decide that one parent can get permission to move with the kid out of the country without the other parent losing parental responsibility.

Even though the court may grant consent to relocation, obtaining permission is no easy matter. The court must make a concrete, comprehensive assessment of what is best for the child. Whether that means staying in Norway or moving with one of the parents to another country.