My child has not returned from a holiday abroad. What information should I gather?

The expected return date has passed. Perhaps a flight has changed, messages have become unclear or the other parent has said that the child will remain abroad. You may be trying to understand whether this is a practical delay, a disagreement or a more serious concern.

If there is an immediate threat to the child’s safety, contact the appropriate emergency services. Where you are concerned that a child is being kept abroad without the necessary agreement, seek prompt advice from a specialist family lawyer and contact the relevant authorities about the circumstances.

The purpose of gathering information is to help that assessment. It is not to decide the legal position yourself before speaking to someone.

If you need help establishing whereabouts or assessing practical support, read about our international child-recovery services or discuss your situation privately with Pegasus Ops. Begin with a broad outline and a safe way to reach you.

A print-friendly evidence-gathering checklist

Use this checklist to organise material for the receiving professional. It is a preparation aid, not a request to upload sensitive documents to our enquiry form.

• Original arrangement: consent messages, agreed destinations, dates, return booking and later agreed changes.
• Timeline: departure, expected return, missed arrangements and subsequent communications, with time zones identified.
• Identity and travel: the child’s relevant documents and nationalities, where available to you lawfully.
• Care arrangements: relevant orders or agreements, existing proceedings and the legal professionals involved.
• Location: last confirmed whereabouts, source and date of each later report, and any uncertainty.
• Contacts: authority references, named advisers and the person coordinating updates.
• Welfare concerns: the specific concern, what supports it and which appropriate authority has been informed.

Keep the original plan and the change distinct

Begin with what was understood before departure. Record the countries, travel dates, expected return and the people involved in the arrangement. Keep relevant messages, travel confirmations and documents rather than relying on a later recollection of the conversation.

Then record what changed. Was an extension requested? Was a different return date proposed? Did a message say that the child would not be coming back? Write down when you became aware of each development and keep the original communication.

A factual timeline helps an adviser distinguish the agreed trip from the events that followed. If something was discussed verbally, explain that it is your account of the conversation. Do not present a reconstructed note as a message or written agreement.

Explain what you know about the child’s whereabouts

A family may know where a child was staying during the holiday without knowing whether they remain there. An address, a place mentioned in a message and a location independently established by an appropriate professional are different levels of information.

Describe the most recent information and its source. Be clear about unanswered questions. The people assessing the situation can then decide which uncertainties matter and whether further location enquiries would be useful.

If you have a concern about welfare, describe the specific information behind it. A clear account is more useful than adding an interpretation to every detail.

Preserve the original record. Explain the change. Keep assumptions separate from confirmed information.

Ask a lawyer to assess the position

A child being taken abroad without the relevant agreement and a child not being returned after an agreed trip can raise different issues. The family circumstances, the arrangements in place and the countries involved need proper assessment.

Official FCDO guidance addresses children who have been taken or kept abroad. It explains routes involving legal advisers and public authorities. Whether a particular international process applies is a question to check for the case, rather than infer from a general list of countries.

The lawyer should also know which authorities have already been contacted and whether another professional is carrying out work. Clear coordination helps prevent separate instructions from proceeding on different understandings of the facts.

Organise the material for the people receiving it

A short summary can sit at the front of the account: the expected return date, what has changed, the last known location and the immediate concern. The supporting material can then be organised by date or topic.

Relevant records may include travel arrangements, messages about the trip, previous agreements or orders and information already provided to professionals. Keep the original files and ask how copies should be supplied.

Do not put a child’s identity documents, exact location or court papers into a general website enquiry. At first contact with Pegasus Ops, give a broad outline, the countries involved and a safe way to reach you. Necessary detailed information can be reviewed through an agreed channel.

Understand where investigation may fit

A legal adviser may need a clearer picture of whereabouts or particular information before considering the next decision. An investigative brief should identify that question and explain the work proposed to address it.

Pegasus Ops can assess an enquiry involving information review or location work as part of its international child-recovery services. The instruction establishes what is being accepted, what the client will receive and who is authorised to direct the work.

A location enquiry does not automatically become an operational recovery. Any further action needs a separate assessment of welfare, legal position, authority and the practical circumstances. A possible address alone is not an agreed recovery plan.

Keep one clear route for updates

In a developing situation, relatives, advisers and other contacts may all be trying to help. Agree who maintains the current timeline and who receives new information. That person should make it easy to identify what has changed since the last discussion.

Also agree what will trigger an update to the relevant professional: a new message, a reliable change of location, a court development or a concern about welfare. The arrangement should follow the case and the instructions already accepted.

Before making travel or collection plans, discuss the proposal with the appropriate advisers. The objective is a suitable response for the child’s circumstances, with understandable responsibilities and authority.

Questions to have ready

• What was agreed about the trip and return?
• What has changed, when did it change and how do you know?
• Where is the child believed to be, and which parts remain uncertain?
• Are there relevant agreements, orders or existing proceedings?
• Which police, public authorities, lawyers or other professionals have been contacted?
• Who can be reached safely and who can authorise the next instruction?

You do not need a polished dossier before asking for help. A short, accurate account gives the first professional a better starting point than a large collection of unexplained files.

Agreed travel and possible wrongful retention

A holiday may have begun with permission and still give rise to a concern about a child being kept abroad. The legal assessment depends on the arrangements, rights and circumstances, not simply on whether the first journey was authorised. Ask your lawyer which date and facts may be relevant; do not choose a legal deadline yourself from an online description. The 1980 Hague Convention addresses wrongful retention as well as wrongful removal.

Keep the originals and a usable working record

Make an index before distributing a large bundle. Give each item a date, short description and source. Preserve original files, including complete conversations where appropriate, and ask the adviser receiving them about secure transfer, format and translations. If you add an explanatory note, distinguish it from the original evidence.

Where relatives or a family office are helping, keep a single working chronology and record corrections openly. Conflicting versions create avoidable work. Ask who should receive each update and whether any document has restrictions on disclosure.

Read our first-step guide for a child taken abroad for official reporting routes, and our assessment and cost guide before considering a private instruction. Both should support an organised conversation with the people responsible for the case.

How Pegasus Ops can use the information you have gathered

An organised account helps us identify the investigative or operational question a client needs answered. Pegasus Ops can conduct on-the-ground physical enquiries, check reported addresses and use lawful surveillance where appropriate to establish the child’s whereabouts. We report what is established and what remains unresolved so the family and its advisers can decide the next instruction.

Where a lawful recovery or return needs practical support, that stage is assessed and proposed separately. The work may involve operational planning, personnel and coordination of the agreed arrangements. Read our child-recovery service information or contact us with the countries involved, current stage and a safe way to reach you.

Updated 13 November 2026.

General guidance, not legal advice. For official contacts, use GOV.UK’s child-return and contact guidance. A qualified lawyer should assess whether the facts amount to wrongful retention and which legal routes apply.