Can Ex Get Passport for Child Without My Consent?

[YoungDad23]

Can anyone please let me know if there is a way to check if my ex has applied for or gotten a passport for S2 without my consent?

Her ex-boyfriend, from the US, is back on the scene and currently visiting her home in the small Ontario town we both live in.

I have no issues that she is dating someone, if he's good to her and treats our son well I would be happy for them.

My ONLY concern is that our son not be taken out of the country.

Current temporary order states that neither of us can remove S2 from Ontario. Custody has not been decided (she's asking for sole, I'm seeking joint) and we're headed to Trial after not reaching an agreement at TMC.

In her TMC brief earlier this month, ex specifically asked that she be allowed to get a passport for S2 without my consent.

Threats have been made in the past that she would disappear with our son and I would NEVER find them.

What stops her from getting a passport and both of them leaving the country? With trial looming, do I need to file a motion or possibly emergency motion?

Thx in advance!

[Links17]

Threats have been made in the past that she would disappear with our son and I would NEVER find them.

Do you have that documented?

[blinkandimgone]

How old is the kid?

You can flag your kid with CBSA so that any attempt to take him out of the country would be stopped at the border and they would double check for proper documentation including letter of consent.

Depending on age, she cannot get a passport without your signature however there is nothing preventing her from forging yours. (my ex did and successfully took the kid out of the country)

Do you have her threats documented? Did she put it in writing?

[dinkyface]

My ex got a passport for our daughter without my signature/consent. We had no custody order in place, we split before she was born, legal wranglings were just starting. I was not listed as father on the birth certificate - perhaps that is how it was permitted - she could just say I was not in the picture.

Talk to Passport Canada to see what they suggest.

[YoungDad23]

My ex got a passport for our daughter without my signature/consent. We had no custody order in place, we split before she was born, legal wranglings were just starting. I was not listed as father on the birth certificate - perhaps that is how it was permitted - she could just say I was not in the picture.

Talk to Passport Canada to see what they suggest.

@Links and @Blink,

Thanks for your comments and suggestions, I do have the threats that she made to take our son and disappear documented and they were in writing (text). My son is 2 yrs old.

She made the threats quite a while ago but those specific texts have been submitted to the court and brought to the attention of our case management judge on motion. (hence the order that neither of us can take our son out of Ontario without written consent of the other or a court order)

I will be contacting Passport Canada tomorrow to have my sons name added to the Passport Canada System Lookout list to flag his name and hers if she applies so that they will know she doesn't have my consent.

International Child Abduction: A Guidebook for Left-Behind Parents - Travel.gc.ca

Custody has not been established in our case after almost two years in the courts and like dinkyface, we split before our son was born and I am not listed on the birth certificate.

Court ordered paternity testing confirmed I am S2's biological father and ex's TMC brief finally acknowledged this fact in writing earlier this month.

My ex is fully capable of forging my signature and or presenting that I am not in the picture to go ahead and get a passport for S2.

S2 is currently in my care until tomorrow and after speaking with my parents this afternoon, I decided to poke the hornet's nest and send my ex a formal but non-accusatory email reminding her that neither one of us can travel outside Ontario or apply for a passport for S2 without the other parent's consent. (More or less to put the subject on the table and to see what kind of reaction I got)

I didn't mention that I know her ex from the US is in town and but I did ask that she confirm that she hasn't and will not apply for a passport for S2 without my written consent.

I did get a response by email and it was strangely calm, saying she doesn't have a passport, hasn't applied for a passport for S2 and that she doesn't have plans to travel now or in the near future.

I swear she didn't write it, not her writing style or vocabulary and she didn't even ask why I was bringing it up. My guess is that she flipped out like I thought she would and then the new/old boyfriend helped to write the reply.

I'm just hoping I can do enough to head her off if she was or is considering taking our son out of the country.

[Links17]

You assume too much and for no good reason... You need to disentangle yourself.

[YoungDad23]

You assume too much and for no good reason... You need to disentangle yourself.

Thanks Links, I'm trying to and I REALLY, REALLY hope I'm jumping to conclusions.

I want to trust what she said by email yesterday and that she wouldn't take our son out of the country, but I'm still SUPER nervous that she is capable of it to avoid going to trial and especially to prevent a joint custody decision from the court.

Her ex from the US is who she claimed was our son's biological father (instead of me) from the time she was 3 months pregnant until the DNA testing results came back when he was 4 months old.

If she actually had this guy believing he was our son's father and now has him convinced that the false allegations that I assaulted her and physically and sexually abused our son are true, he could believe he is "rescuing" her.

My ex gf and her mother have been a tag team since day one, singing from the same playbook to prevent me from having a role in our son's life every inch of the way.

Nothing is out of the realm of possibility but I hope she is too afraid of the consequences to go that far.

[sahibjee]

blocking the passport is your best bet, going in and out of country are a stroke of luck, when we were still together we traveled abroad together with my son and then ex came back alone, no one asked her a word about me or any consent/papers etc.

After I got custody*; I went for vacation out of country with son without anyone even raising an eyebrow or asking for any documentation, when we were re-entring the border agent did ask for the court papers which I showed her and then she was ok ... I have other friends who have also traveled with kids without being asked any questions. ...


*I am allowed to travel without consent as well as apply for passport without her signatures

[YoungDad23]

Thx sahibjee,

I got the forms to put S2's and my ex's name on the Passport System Lookout List yesterday and will be faxing them today with copies of our court orders.

If she is determined to take S2 to the US, I know she could probably do it by driving over the border with our son and her ex, but I hope by sending my email reminding her of the court order, that this guy won't cooperate and put himself in trouble with the law.

In case she does disappear within Canada or the US, I have downloaded a kit from Missingkids.ca called Parental Abduction Checklist and filled it out:
https://missingkids.ca/app/en/parent...ion-prevention

I took lots of good pics of S2 on Sunday (with good headshots), weighed him and measured his height to ensure I have all the info I need and hopefully will NEVER have to use.