Chloe O: Divorce and Co-Parenting Across Borders

Two people move abroad for one person's job. The marriage ends. One of them wants to go home and the other says the children are staying. Neither country's family court has an easy answer, and neither person's lawyer specializes in this.

Chloe O is a divorce and separation coach based in London who works with clients internationally, and coaches in both English and French. She sums up her job as helping people divorce without destroying their children, their relationship with their ex, or their finances, and she holds the line on that when the process gets difficult. Her additional specialty is the international case: expat families, dual-nationality couples, and parents co-parenting from separate countries. She and Lisa met through the Amicable Divorce Network.

Early on they cover the decisions that get made before anyone has adjusted. Immigration status, and how in the UK the clock on someone without an independent right to remain starts at the end of the relationship rather than at filing. Choosing a jurisdiction, since countries differ on cost, on how prenups are treated, and on whether a full financial disclosure is even required, which matters a great deal if you believe assets are being hidden. And Chloe's warning about moving somewhere you would not want to be stuck if the marriage is already unsteady.

The middle is about parenting plans built for distance. Passports, consent letters and how far ahead they must be given, who pays for flights, where a visiting parent stays, the age at which a child can travel alone, and the trap in agreeing that the other parent gets every holiday. Chloe and Lisa also talk through a fixed monthly amount for extracurriculars instead of negotiating every expense, which both of them have seen buy back years of arguing.

The last stretch covers the Hague Convention and why leaving with the children and not returning is treated as seriously as it is, cultural expectations that surface only once a family separates, and Chloe's case for keeping the absent parent's language and culture in a child's life regardless of how you feel about that parent.

As always, this is strategic education, not legal or mental-health advice for your specific situation.

🎓 What you'll learn

• How to think about choosing which country to divorce in, and what actually differs
• Immigration status after a separation, including the UK clock that starts at the breakup
• Why relocation is hard to win in court and better negotiated
• What to do when you are stranded in a country that requires a spouse's permission to travel
• The clauses an international parenting plan needs: passports, consent, flights, and cost
• How consent letters get weaponized, and the wording that reduces that
• Hague Convention consequences of leaving with the children and not returning
• Why keeping the other parent's culture and language matters for your child

⏱️ Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:00 Who pays for the flights when one parent moves abroad
3:00 Chloe's work, and what makes an international divorce different
5:00 Immigration status, the clock after a breakup, and choosing where to divorce
9:00 When leaving means being stranded, or leaving your children behind
11:00 Jurisdiction: disclosure rules, prenups, and what really varies
17:00 The clauses an international parenting plan needs
19:00 Passports, consent letters, and travel permission
23:00 Leaving and not coming back: the Hague Convention
27:00 Culture, language, and what a child stands to lose
33:00 Tax, exchange rates, and planning ahead

Keep going 💜
Book a free 30-minute discovery call and we'll help you map your next steps: https://beentheregotout.com/call
📘 Been There Got Out: Toxic Relationships, High-Conflict Divorce, and How to Stay Sane Under Insane Circumstances — https://www.amazon.com/dp/194627495X
📘 Been There Got Out: When Your Ex Turns the Kids Against You (our parental-alienation book) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/1967674183
🔗 Chloe O, Divorce Differently: https://divorcewithchloe.com/

About Been There Got Out
Chris Barry and Lisa Johnson are high-conflict divorce, custody, and co-parenting strategists, and the founders of Been There Got Out. They know these cases from the inside: both have successfully represented themselves in family court. Few attorneys have a playbook for a case like this — Chris and Lisa write yours with you, so you and your kids can get through it as unscathed as possible.