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  • Order wording concerning travel letter.

    I really need some opinions on the wording of one of the paragraphs of my court order. Opinions from OrleansLawyer and Tayken would be especially apreciated

    A little history -
    • In 2012 my ex refused to give me permission to take our daughter's to the US for a tournament. The girls had attended the year before and really wanted to come along. I didn't fight it because it was on the ex's weekend so he had the right to say no, however his response was "I will never let you take my girls to the US".
    • In the summer my partner and I planned a vacation and intended to travel through the US on our way back from the east coast. We requested a travel letter. My ex, who wanted to postpone our SC, agreed to sign if we agreed to postpone. We agreed, he refused to sign. We filed a motion and at the last minute, he signed (and avoided paying my costs) .
    • At the SC, we requested a blanket travel letter so that we could avoid further issues with travel. The judge went up one side of my ex and down the other over his refusal to sign it. We made a minor change to the wording at the judge's suggestion and the ex stated he would sign it. He did not.
    • At the 2nd SC, we finally settled. The order contained a paragraph dealing with the travel consent letter. The intent was for a blanket letter allowing me to travel with our daughters as long as I provided notice. Here is the wording:


    The parties will each execute a Letter of Consent to allow each of them to travel with the girls to the United States of America during their respective parenting time with them, which said Letter may be relied upon by the traveling parent provided only notice is provided in advance of the travel details, as per the terms of paragraph 1.4 below.
    My ex is arguing that this is not a blanket travel letter, but rather a regular travel letter that specifies the dates of travel. I disagree as it clearly states "may be relied upon by....provided only notice is provided in advance".

    I will likely filing a contempt motion for his refusal to apply for passports soon and would like to include the travel letter, however, if the wording is too vague, I don't want to take the chance I would lose.

    Opinions please!!!

    And thanks!

  • #2
    I will likely filing a contempt motion for his refusal to apply for passports soon and would like to include the travel letter, however, if the wording is too vague, I don't want to take the chance I would lose.
    Motion to dispense with his consent to obtain passports, dispense with his consent to travel, seek an Order that you may travel at any time.

    The first two allow you to get the passport, and to make a mark in his place on the travel letter. The third would be a paper shield to try to bully your way through any customs in case of emergency, however I am not certain as to the long term functionality of that solution.

    Comment


    • #3
      Your wording implies the onus is on the border guard to detemine if notice was provided in advance. Not terribly practical. Otherwise, I agree that this is a blanket consent letter. However ... to prevent misunderstanding, you should specify the wording of the letter -- THAT is going to cause you some disagreements. Is it a letter that indicates any travel anywhere anytime any duration? Perhaps you want a duration limit?

      I'm having a similar question on wording: Each parent may travel internationally without consent of the other, as long as it is on their parenting time. Travel details to be provided blah blah blah. But ... how the heck will a border guard know whether or not I am traveling on my own parenting time???

      Comment


      • #4
        "The parent may travel without the consent of the other parent for xx days. " Nothing left to argue for anybody. The drawback it that if in 10 years you want to go with your kid for a 2 months trip, you need to beg for a consent.

        Comment


        • #5
          The wording in the letter is for travel to the US only, on the parent's regular time, and for a maximum of 7 days (we are week to week). I have signed and delivered a letter for his use - he returned it. Anything outside of that would require a separate letter. The other issue with a letter is that if the border guard actually called the ex he could just deny me access over the phone.

          It is very unfortunate that he feels I become a bad parent the moment I cross the border. Apparently I can travel all the way to Vancouver but I can't drive 2 hours across the border.

          OrleansLawyer - we have a final order already that says we'll apply for the passports and exchange the letters (he's done neither) - can I just go ahead and file a motion? I was told there has to be a 'change in circumstance' to change the order.

          Comment

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