M.M v M.A (109765/2023) [2024] ZAGPJHC 461 (7 April 2024)

Parties

Procedural Posture

Urgent Application / First Instance Judgment

Legal Issues

1. 1 Whether the applicant should be granted leave to relocate the minor children from South Africa to France permanently.
2. 2 What arrangements for contact and financial responsibility between the parents should be ordered post-relocation.
3. 3 Whether the timing of the relocation should be immediate or delayed to 2025 as recommended by the social worker.

Ratio Decidendi

The court found that both parents have been equally involved in the upbringing of the minor children, but the applicant's career and visa circumstances necessitate her relocation to France. The children are prepared for the move, having attended a French International School and visited France, and both now support relocation. The respondent conceded to relocation in 2025, but the court determined that further delay was not justified and would not serve the children's best interests. The court emphasised the need for elaborate contact arrangements to maintain the children's relationship with the respondent and ordered shared financial responsibility. The applicant was granted leave to...

Court Disposition

Application granted: leave to relocate minor children to France with the applicant in July 2024, subject to detailed contact and financial arrangements; each party to pay their own costs.

Orders

• Leave is granted to the applicant to remove the minor children from South Africa to permanently reside in France.
• The respondent is ordered to sign all documentation necessary to give effect to the relocation; failing which, the Sheriff is authorised to sign on the respondent's behalf.