Habitual abode – non-tax case 

“In short, the habitual residence of a child corresponds to the place which reflects some degree of integration by the child in a social and family environment. The test is essentially a factual one with the inquiry centred throughout on the circumstances of the child’s life that are most likely to illuminate his habitual residence. It is possible for a parent unilaterally to cause a child to change habitual residence by removing the child to another jurisdiction without the consent of the other parent. A child will usually but not necessarily have the same habitual residence as the parent(s) who care for him or her, but it is the child’s habitual residence which is in question and, it follows, the child’s integration which is under consideration.

Parental intention is relevant to the assessment, but not determinative. It is the stability of a child’s residence as opposed to its permanence which is relevant, though this is qualitative and not quantitative, in the sense that it is the integration of the child into the environment rather than a mere measurement of the time a child spends there. There is no requirement that the child should have been resident in the country in question for a particular period of time, let alone that there should be an intention on the part of one or both parents to reside there permanently or indefinitely. The requisite degree of integration can, in certain circumstances, develop quite quickly.”