A mother who set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds for her family case has lost her application to travel out of the jurisdiction after the website and the content describing the fundraising made it ‘difficult for the court to trust’ that the mother would not breach an order as a result of ‘another serious error of judgement’. 

On the page, the mother named herself and her two young children, included a photograph and details of the family proceedings including allegations made against the father which were not being pursued in court. Whilst the father was not specifically named, the judgment acknowledged that he would be readily identifiable by anyone who knew the family.  

The court found that there was a moderate and ‘not insignificant risk’ that the mother would ‘abduct the children’ if permitted to travel and drew comparisons against the mother's error in judgement in publicising the proceedings on her GoFundMe page and concerns that a further error in judgement could lead her to breach an order if it were to be made. 

The case highlights the importance of ensuring that Children Act proceedings are kept confidential and are not published without the explicit permission of the court. Parents should bear this in mind before posting identifiable content on social media or elsewhere. Whilst committal proceedings were not pursued against the mother in this case, that does not prohibit the court from pursuing such sanctions in other cases.