Do I need my ex's permission to take kids out of the country?

[GreenBoy]

With regards to family law; hoping for clarification on the following two items:

1. I understand I need permission from my ex-wife to take my children out of the state. I have been requesting this for some time and in the main there has never been too many issues with this (out of the state includes Northern Ireland so it happens perhaps once every two months). Does my ex wife require my agreement to take the kids out of the state? I've seen various different views on this.

2. I am planning a short trip to the UK with the kids. She had recently taken the kids to the continent for two weeks, which I'd no qualms with and agreed to, even though it significantly impacted on my access (given the way, the dates were booked). What is the legal position if she withholds agreement and/or passports?

 

[ClubMan]

For what it's worth ... I have sole custody of our son and when, in the past, there was a potential problem with getting his mother to agree to him accompanying me on an EU trip years ago, my solicitor advised me not to just go and, if necessary, to go to the family court to get an order officially allowing me to take him abroad. (As it happened that didn't turn out to be necessary).

This could be a very tricky question to answer authoritatively here and taking any action unilaterally could potentially result in a serious situation (e.g. child trafficking!) so I would strongly urge you to seek professional legal advice.