JEM44

I am anticipating it being an issue, my ex is un contactable now, despite a court order that states he should keep me updated with his contact details. It is not so much about the money, which obviously does help support the kids (who are bleedig me dry!) but the kids are of an age, where they want me to pursue this. Neither like the fact that they don't know where he lives etc or how to contact him should they wish to. All I have is an email address which does not get a response no matter what info I send about the kids (I am requested by court to keep him informed of school progress and health issues) and a solicitors address! At least I will be able to say I tried!

Thanks Chicken66, do you know if your sister had the agreement of maintenance made in a UK court or was it a verbal agreement, and if she tried to have it enforced, did she try to do this herself, or did she go through REMO (Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders Unit who are supposed to work between courts in different countries to enforce non payments etc? I anticipate if I get the order in court, that we would need to have it enforced on the basis that the CSA ask me every month when I am going to Aus and my ex is desperate to cut ties with the kids.

Thanks, but the CSA or CMS as they are now, do not have jurisdiction if any party is outside of the UK. That is why I am applying under the Children's Act which covers international financial arrangements for overseas parties. There is also an international body who enforce it between many countries, the UK and Australia are part of this agreement. Hopefully someone else on here will have been down this route.

I too do not have a full set. My daughter ate one, but I still have the letter she wrote to the tooth fairy apologising for eating it!

There is a specific part of the Children's Act that deals with financial arrangements when either a parent or child moves overseas. this is the basis of my case that I have just submitted to court. I am am therefore looking for someone who has actually been to court over this issue. There surely must be someone. I can't believe parents just give up presumably because the CSA don't have jurisdiction outside of the UK.

Thank you for not making me feel like a complete and utter weirdo or a nutter!! At least now I have two options. Thanks

Excellent advice, thank you. Never thought about that. None of my kids have fillings thankfully so that'll be the way I go. I'd been envisaging scenes from the Boarder Security TV show!!! But assume there is no box to tick on the customs form for: Do you have any body parts in your luggage??

We are currently getting our ducks in order for our move next year. I am starting to make lists of what comes, what stays and what needs to be replaced. Now here is my question...... I have (please don't judge me!!!) kept all of my children's teeth (obviously the tooth fairy collected them, but we had an agreement that she returned them to me ) since they were little and started to lose them. Some are still a bit gummy!!! Can I pack them and take them with me in the shipping container? Should I try and clean them to remove the gummyness? Should I take them in hand luggage? I know this is an odd question but I really don't want to leave them behind after all these years. Thanks Laura

Hi, I am just wondering whether anyone on here has been to court to apply for child maintenance to be paid once a child has emigrated to Australia? My children have no contact with their father (my ex-husband) but he does pay weekly through the CSA, however, they call me almost once a month to ask when we are going so that he can stop his payments. I have applied to go to court to have a financial order put in place to allow provision for child maintenance to be continued once we make the move next year. Just wondering if anyone else has gone down this route, and if so, how did it go? Please don't turn this into the opinions of absent fathers, mothers responsibility if leaving UK with them etc. My children would love to have contact with their father, however, kids clearly didn't figure in his future once our marriage of over 10 years broke down. We do have a contact order in place which I have been to court over to try and enforce and failed! Thank you in advance for any help or advice people can offer. Laura

Hi, not sure about your situation, I'm head of H&S in the UK for my organisation and am going out in May 2016, positive skills assessment etc, most jobs even the basic ones want a minimum cert IV in Oc health & safety. Here the equivalent would be NEBOSH diploma. No IOSH course would come close unfortunately. Most also want a cert IV in training. ive got an MSC and an now distance learning to get the Cert IV in training and assessment. Just so I can also look at basic H&S jobs not just the high flying ones. But saying that, when I applied for our permanent residency 18 months ago there were loads of jobs being advertised. Now there's less than 1 a week in WA!!! Laura

we have been to court many times. Domestic abuse - Cafcass involved Child contact order - Cafcass involved Failure to maintain contact order - Cafcass involved Order to remove and we will go again in the new year over child maintenance as we fly the end of May 2016, and ex asks every month when he can stop paying for them. Or rather the CSA ask me every month as we have no contact directly. He knows where we are and has my contact details but I have none for him.

Just out of curiosity, and I understand all circumstances are different, but why are you still living together? If it is a joint house, why don't you and the children leave? Rent a house, stay with family and or friends? You need to demonstrate that you have acted in their best interests all the way along rather than what could (in his barristers eyes and that of Cafcass) be acting in your best interests in that you want to return to Australia. Relationship gone bad and she wants to go home! If it is your house then have him removed by the police. Although you can still do the same (above) if the issue of abuse is genuine and recorded with police etc, but again be careful in how you report things, you have to be genuine, continued reports of domestic abuse (from memory it was about twice) will lead to the children being reported as "in danger" to social services. but in this instance this would be in your favour. You do need to remember just because a father is abusive does not mean he should not see his kids. Having been to court many times and always self represented (husband had a solicitor and barrister) I couldn't afford it and so worked my way round the local solicitors with the free hours advice building my knowledge, his barrister obviously believed what he had been told and was extremely rude to me, until the truth came out, after that he was very helpful. If you self represent, the other solicitor / barrister has to make sure you understand and are not disadvantaged by your lack of representation. We are due to move in May next year and I am planning to go back to court in the new year to sort out child maintenance as the CSA etc don't cover the kids leaving the UK. Good luck Laura x

Sadly Cafcass don't always see both sides. Been there and got the T-shirt! My advice would be to insist that Cafcass interview you also, and the children if old enough as they have to present a balanced view. Also if there is evidence of abuse, get copies or incidents reported etc, reports from school / day care etc showing the relationship between them and you and them and father, presumably there is only one with you etc? Just get as much evidence to support you as possible. Good luck, judges will always do what is best for the children, not what's best for you as a parent wanting to emigrate, they also aren't stupid as see parent child relationships all day every day. So far I've been to court with for different judges all the way up to District judges and they've all been great.

I plan on keeping mine til the very end and then using we buy any car.com. may get slightly less but saves the bother and stress of either not selling or being without a car.

We have just had a quote of £3200 north west UK to Perth 20ft container

There is nothing stopping you doing this..... BUT ..... A tourist visa is only for holiday makers, so if you were stopped at customs and they were suspicious that you were not planning on leaving, you could be refused entry and therefore scupper your plans. You'd need to be very careful. I.e. Have a return ticket, not carrying any documents, still have somewhere to live in the UK. We will consider this option for my mum but she is very nervous about it going pear shaped so not sure it is worth the chance. laura

Hi Fred, we are still in the UK, but still scoping things out for when we go next year thinking also about how my mum can come out. This is what I think our best route would be... Happy for anyone to tell me if I've missed something. When we move, my mum can visit on a tourist visa back and to say every winter with us etc. then when I have completed two full tax years working, she can apply for the contributory parent visa. She will apply from the UK and continue to visit until it is granted and then sell her flat and move. I have one brother so she is ok on the balance of children numbers as I will be in Aus and he will be in UK. However, the migration agent we discussed with did say there was another option, or loop hole, doesn't recommend it, but you could do it. If when mum comes to visit as a tourist, she then applied for the visa "onshore" she could then get a bridging visa for the period of time waiting for it to be granted. I know someone on here has recently done it. Obviously there are risks if immigration get suspicious etc when you land as a tourist planning on staying so I guess you have to pack carefully etc!!! the only thing I haven't figured out with this is whether I still have to have completed two full tax years before she can still apply. I assume that is the case, it would just mean if the processing times are two ish years she doesn't have to fly between the two countries. Although someone recently said it was down to about 9 months (I think). We we are factoring in it costing circa £40k for her and a $10k bond to apply. Thats is all I can tell you at the minute, someone else may correct me or add more info. Good luck Laura

Hi, we have just booked our flights (big woohoo) and now looking to book holiday accommodation for 4 weeks in Perth. I've used Airbnb before but just wondering whether there are any other alternative options I should explore? thanks Laura

Hi, can I be cheeky and ask what your quoted costs are? Im just about to start looking for prices for shipping our stuff to Perth, we are taking most things so I guess a 20ft container will be just the size we need. Thanks

Hi, just looking to book a stop over in Singapore, but how long is a good period of time? We are a family with 2 teenage kids. I'm thinking three full days, is that enough? Laura

You should be fine, as long as you are fairly literate (which assuming a teacher would be) my personal experience would suggest you would be hard pushed to fail. The multi choice papers mean you only tick the answer you want, speaking goes without saying, that was just general conversation and the writing finishes with a bit of an essay. You will be fine, I practiced because of the failure stories and came out with four 9s, or 4 x 9 lol !! good luck x

Hi, I am thinking that when we move, we will ship our furniture etc a few weeks before we fly, then assuming we get a holiday rental for four weeks which should give us time to find a rental property, I would like to tie the shipping arrival date in with this, so the question is... how long does a container usually take to get from the UK to Perth? I know this will be an average from people's experiences, but will give me an idea when to send our things. Also, if our container arrives before we are ready with a rental, does it just stay in storage somewhere, presumably incurring a charge. If this is the case, where does it stay and what are the likely charges? Thanks Laura

Thanks guys. I shall start looking into it.

Hi all, I am just starting to look at our shipping options, we have just moved into a rented house in the UK ready for our move next year. I am looking at shipping pretty much all we own (about 6 weeks before we fly) so that by the time we have had a 4 week holiday rental in Perth and secured a rental property our stuff should have arrived. Hoping that timeline seems correct. Let me know if I have it wrong! My question is, when we moved into our house here I packed everything and the removal men came and took our boxes into the van. However, I am sure I have read on other posts that the shippers have to pack the house contents so that they know what is being shipped. Is that correct or I am missing something. What I am anticipating now is that they will come and pack all my stuff, crockery, clothes etc. Or is it just the same as when we move here in the UK, in that the shippers will come and quote on the house and then I will pack and they will just load the van. Thanks

Hi, I am just looking at the Singapore Stopover Holiday option when we emigrate. This is with Singapore Airlines. has anyone done this or do you know anyone that has and does it actually work out as worth while? If so, do you have any recommendations of where to stay etc? I feel certain there has to be a catch!!! We are a family of four, with 2 teenage kids so not sure where would be best to stay, city or one in Sentosa (which I assume is an island maybe?) Any suggestions welcome. Thanks Laura