A Father v A Mother

Facts

C is a two-year-old girl born in England in 2024 to unmarried parents who never lived together. The mother is a Polish national aged 31, lawfully resident in the United Kingdom; the father is aged 42 and a dual British and Venezuelan national living in Northamptonshire. C lives with her mother in Bedfordshire and is a British national under section 1(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981 as well as Polish by birth. The relationship ended in 2023; the father was not named on C's birth certificate and had no contact with C until she was eight months old, obtaining parental responsibility by an order dated 2 December 2024 following a DNA test. He issued his application for a child arrangements order on 9 May 2024, filing a C1A alleging emotional and psychological abuse; the mother filed a C1A alleging physical, psychological, sexual and financial abuse. Numerous further applications followed, together with six police reports made by the parties against each other. At the final hearing the father sought a child arrangements order, a prohibited steps order preventing relocation, and a specific issue order adding a further given name and his paternal family name to C's name; the mother sought permission to relocate to Poland with C. Cafcass, through Ms Anna Cosford, supported relocation and the addition of the paternal family name.