Contents
- Is the other parent's consent required?
- When can one parent move without the other's consent?
- What if the other parent refuses?
- What does the court look at?
- Build a relocation plan before filing
- Can the child spend school holidays with the other parent?
- Who pays travel costs?
- Does the child's nationality decide the case?
- What if the child is already abroad?
- Temporary travel is different
- What happens to the existing parenting agreement?
- Which country decides after the move?
- Common mistakes
- How THE-Ö can help
If both parents exercise parental responsibilities, one parent generally cannot decide alone to move the child's permanent centre of life from Portugal to another country.
International relocation is treated differently from an ordinary holiday.
Choosing where the child will live is a matter of particular importance.
If the other parent agrees, the relocation can be structured legally.
If the other parent does not agree, a Portuguese court may need to decide.
Is the other parent's consent required?
Where both parents exercise parental responsibilities, consent is generally required for a permanent move to another country.
After separation or divorce, important decisions continue to be exercised jointly as the general rule.
A permanent international relocation changes:
- the child's residence;
- school;
- daily routine;
- practical relationship with the other parent;
- travel pattern;
- often language and wider family environment.
That is why the parent with whom the child mainly lives cannot assume that primary residence gives an automatic right to relocate internationally.
When can one parent move without the other's consent?
The situation is different where:
- one parent has exclusive authority over the relevant parental responsibility under a court decision;
- a court has already authorised the child's residence in the other country;
- another legally effective arrangement gives the required authority.
The exact wording of the existing parental-responsibility order matters.
Do not rely only on informal descriptions such as "I have full custody."
What if the other parent refuses?
If both parents exercise responsibility and one refuses the move, the parent seeking relocation can ask the court to decide.
The court then assesses the child's interests.
The correct strategy is to present a real relocation plan, not simply an adult preference to live elsewhere.
What does the court look at?
There is no single statutory scorecard.
Relevant issues can include:
- why the move is proposed;
- the child's age;
- existing residence and school;
- relationship with each parent;
- proposed housing;
- school in the destination country;
- healthcare;
- language;
- wider family support;
- employment or economic reasons for the move;
- practical contact with the parent remaining in Portugal;
- travel time and cost;
- holidays;
- ability of the parents to cooperate;
- the child's views where appropriate;
- any safety concerns.
A relocation proposal becomes stronger when it answers the practical question:
What will the child's life actually look like after the move?
Build a relocation plan before filing
A useful relocation plan can cover:
Destination
Exact country and city.
Housing
Where the child will live.
School
Proposed school and start date.
Health
Access to healthcare and any ongoing treatment.
Contact
How the child will maintain a substantial relationship with the parent remaining in Portugal.
Travel
Flights, collections, holidays and costs.
Communication
Video calls and ordinary contact.
Family support
Relevant relatives or support network.
Immigration status
The child's legal right to live in the destination country.
Timing
Why the proposed date is workable.
The court needs more than "I have a better opportunity abroad."
Can the child spend school holidays with the other parent?
Yes, and international relocation plans often need a detailed holiday structure.
A schedule can address:
- summer holidays;
- Christmas;
- Easter;
- half-term or school breaks;
- birthdays;
- travel arrangements;
- who buys tickets;
- where handover occurs;
- passports and travel documents.
For families living in different countries, vague contact arrangements are especially difficult.
Who pays travel costs?
There is no universal answer for every family.
Travel costs can be addressed as part of the relocation and maintenance arrangements.
The result can depend on:
- why the move happened;
- each parent's finances;
- frequency of travel;
- distance;
- wider child-maintenance structure.
It is better to resolve this explicitly than to leave it for repeated disputes.
Need help with this?
Our legal team handles this process end to end. Get a clear assessment and a concrete plan.
Check if I can move abroad with my childDoes the child's nationality decide the case?
No.
Nationality can be relevant to immigration and practical rights in the destination country.
But the relocation decision itself focuses on parental responsibilities and the child's interests.
A Portuguese passport does not give one parent the unilateral right to move the child.
What if the child is already abroad?
Act quickly.
A child taken or retained abroad without the required consent or legal authority can trigger international child-abduction proceedings.
The Hague child-abduction framework and EU rules can become relevant depending on the countries involved.
Delay can make the procedural situation more complicated.
A parent should not try to solve a potential international-abduction case only through informal negotiation while legal deadlines and jurisdiction questions are developing.
Temporary travel is different
Portuguese legal guidance distinguishes permanent relocation from ordinary temporary travel.
A holiday that does not change the child's centre of life is normally not treated in the same way as a permanent move.
But unusual travel can still raise parental-responsibility issues, especially where there are:
- safety concerns;
- armed conflict;
- serious health issues;
- a court restriction;
- a risk that the child will not be returned.
Travel-document rules are also separate.
What happens to the existing parenting agreement?
A relocation usually requires the existing parental-responsibility arrangement to be changed.
The old schedule may become impossible.
The revised arrangement may need to address:
- new primary residence;
- long-distance contact;
- holiday blocks;
- digital contact;
- travel costs;
- passports;
- school decisions;
- maintenance.
Do not move first and assume the old Portuguese order will somehow adapt itself.
Which country decides after the move?
International parental-responsibility jurisdiction can change depending on the child's habitual residence and the applicable EU or international rules.
That makes timing important.
A lawful agreed relocation and an unlawful unilateral removal do not create the same jurisdictional position.
Get advice before the child's habitual residence becomes disputed.
Common mistakes
Treating primary residence as permission to emigrate
It is not automatically the same thing.
Asking the court without a concrete plan
The child's future life needs to be understandable.
Moving first because the other parent is "unreasonable"
That can create a child-abduction problem.
Forgetting travel costs and contact logistics
The relationship with the other parent has to remain practically workable.
Treating a holiday and permanent relocation as the same legal act
They are different.
How THE-Ö can help
We help parents seeking or opposing international relocation involving Portugal.
The work can include:
- jurisdiction analysis;
- review of the existing parental-responsibility order;
- relocation plan;
- negotiation;
- agreement drafting;
- court application;
- contact and travel arrangements;
- maintenance consequences;
- cross-border child-abduction response.
Planning to move abroad with your child, or opposing a proposed move?
Tell us where the child lives now, where the proposed move is to, what the current parenting order says and whether the other parent agrees.