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  • Travelling with children

    Hello, I am hoping someone can advise me on this particular situation.

    I have sole custody of my children and we are planning to head as a family (myself, current husband and children) to Cuba for a week for a family members destination wedding. The holiday does not fall over access times as per the court order. I have all their required documents and their passports of course. Both myself and my ex had to sign for the passports though. This was the policy at the passport office even though I am a sole custodial parent.

    My question is do I need him to fill out a consent for the kids to travel with me? I checked with the Foreign Affairs website and they have a sample consent letter etc but the instructions are very vauge about this. They say it is good to have but not a necesity? My problem is I do not think my ex will do this or he will make a huge issue just to be spitefull. I do plan on advising him of our upcoming holiday and will attempt to ask him for the consent though. If he gives it is another story though....

    Has anyone gone on holidays without it? What happened? I do not want to do anything illegal or anything to fuel his fire, just want to go to a wedding and enjoy a nice trip with my family.

  • #2
    I like to cover the bases.

    I think I would follow through with the itinerary letter of consent. If the other parent refuses, I would file an expedited motion and seek costs. The vacation and attendance at wedding is not unreasonable and as mentioned does not interfere with the access.

    Comment


    • #3
      I agree with the above poster, you need to cover your bases just in case. Is there nothing stated in your custody agreement about travel out of country? Our Separation Agreement states that the other parent needs to give consent through a notarized letter. Again, barring any unreasonable reason for travel, there really is no reason for him to disagree.
      Good luck!

      Comment


      • #4
        I agree as well, if your court order does not indicate that it is required then you are likely not legally obligated to. I would anyways, you get your bases covered. This way if there are any issues you have done your due diligence, besides maybe dad will help ramp the kids up for the fun trip?

        Comment


        • #5
          Hi, thanks for all the replys.

          AnotherStep<om, in the order it only states I have to grant permission if he ever wanted to travel with the children nothing about me asking him, hence the confusion with all of it and the legalities with me having sole custody.

          I have done small trips into the states with the kids and have never had to have the authorization of the other parent but I think in this case I will have to just ask him to sign the consent and hope for the best. He is the type of person who will make an issue about anything for any reason regardless if it is for the benefit of the kids or not. *Sigh*

          Thanks again!

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by mrsb View Post
            Hello, I am hoping someone can advise me on this particular situation.

            I have sole custody of my children and we are planning to head as a family (myself, current husband and children) to Cuba for a week for a family members destination wedding. The holiday does not fall over access times as per the court order. I have all their required documents and their passports of course. Both myself and my ex had to sign for the passports though. This was the policy at the passport office even though I am a sole custodial parent.

            My question is do I need him to fill out a consent for the kids to travel with me? I checked with the Foreign Affairs website and they have a sample consent letter etc but the instructions are very vauge about this. They say it is good to have but not a necesity? My problem is I do not think my ex will do this or he will make a huge issue just to be spitefull. I do plan on advising him of our upcoming holiday and will attempt to ask him for the consent though. If he gives it is another story though....

            Has anyone gone on holidays without it? What happened? I do not want to do anything illegal or anything to fuel his fire, just want to go to a wedding and enjoy a nice trip with my family.
            I have primary custody of my two boys and we just went on vacation to Florida. Our divorce order states that each party is required to give the other written permission for travel outside Ontario. My ex wife initially gave permission in writing and then a month before our holiday witheld permission claiming that "I am a flight risk". Please! Anyway it was purely out of spite.
            I filed a motion of contempt and won. Judge also awarded costs and signed an order allowing me to travel with the kids to Florida.

            Well... after all that, not ONE person questioned me at Pearson when we left. I had the documents but thought I would try without them just out of curiosity and no one gave us a second look. My current spouse has a different surname than me and my boys and still no one questioned us.

            However in your case you probably don't want to risk doing that without any documentation but I can tell you your ex is not allowed to withold consent unreasonably. If he does you can drag him into court, file a motion of contempt, and get costs as well. If you need help on the ppwk etc. it is all still fresh in my mind.

            Good luck....

            Comment


            • #7
              Thank you J_Kitchener. I have not had issues prior either taking them accross the border either, they never gave us a second look at all but I don't want to take any risks with this as my ex husband is unreasonable and not child focused and very litigation happy. My fear is this will create quite the issue with him but we will see. I just might have to take you up on your offer to help and thanks so much!

              Comment


              • #8
                The only issue is if you DON'T have the consent letter, you DO run the risk of being turned away at the destination.

                You might not be asked to produce the document 99 times out of 100...but the 1 time in 100 you wind up needing it...do you really want to run the risk of it being when you are attending a wedding or other family event?

                Comment


                • #9
                  Thanks NBDad. I had not put any research into this previously and looking back I see that I should have. Knowing my luck I would be the 1 out of 100 you speak of. lol I had always assumed that as a sole custodial parent I would not require his consent but I plan to approach him with the consent, not just for this but for us to head accross the border for our summer trips to Maine as well.

                  I think it might be in my best interested to update my current order to reflect this as well so I do not run into these problems again. It seems the more details addressed the better in my situation.

                  Thanks for your help!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by J_Kitchener2010 View Post
                    I have primary custody of my two boys and we just went on vacation to Florida. Our divorce order states that each party is required to give the other written permission for travel outside Ontario. My ex wife initially gave permission in writing and then a month before our holiday witheld permission claiming that "I am a flight risk". Please! Anyway it was purely out of spite.
                    I filed a motion of contempt and won. Judge also awarded costs and signed an order allowing me to travel with the kids to Florida.

                    Well... after all that, not ONE person questioned me at Pearson when we left. I had the documents but thought I would try without them just out of curiosity and no one gave us a second look. My current spouse has a different surname than me and my boys and still no one questioned us.

                    However in your case you probably don't want to risk doing that without any documentation but I can tell you your ex is not allowed to withold consent unreasonably. If he does you can drag him into court, file a motion of contempt, and get costs as well. If you need help on the ppwk etc. it is all still fresh in my mind.

                    Good luck....
                    I would greatly appreciate help with the paperwork. My Ex is refusing to allow me to bring DD11 on a trip to Puerto Vallarta next month. He claims it's too 'dangerous' to bring her there. I disagree and gave him a printout of the Foreign Affairs warnings for Mexico which clearly states that flying in and staying at resort towns is safe, along with a map of where we're going to show we're not going to be anywhere near the danger areas.

                    We have joint custody, with me as primary. Our agreement states we need each other's written permission for travel out of the country, not to be unreasonably withheld. I believe he's being unreasonable. We're going to celebrate her grandparent's birthdays!

                    Do I need my lawyer to do this or can I do it myself and save the $$$? Thanks for any help you can offer.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I think sending him the letter of consent and giving him a deadline to answer is reasonable.
                      I think I would be playing it safe and getting a letter anyways, you are leaving the country and would not want to run into problems in another country.
                      Is there any other way around this? If you have things included in your order stating anything under 48 hours you do not need written consent to travel out of country, does that work as long as you bring the order?
                      It's sad if ex's are not willing to produce a letter just out of spite. Sad
                      7....
                      Last edited by tugofwar; 10-25-2010, 10:07 PM.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Immigration Canada

                        If your seperation agreement has not been court ordered and your childrens passports were obtained prior to your seperation (and are still valid), then immigration canada and other countries are not aware of the custody topic whatsoever.
                        I discovered this today when attempting to renew my childrens passport prior to their expiration and was missing an item for renewal.
                        The passport office did state that after the renewal occured, the custody information would be included within the system.
                        This makes complete sense as I've been seperated for two years, travel on a regular basis to a vacation property with just my children and have never been challenged at the border by US immigration. (I do not have a court order).
                        I expect that might change after their passports are renewed, however I was advised to obtain a notorised letter (just in case). The passport office does offer a letter of consent form as well to complete if you require one.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          If you attempt to travel outside Canada and have a court order stating custody, is this enough or do you need to get a consent order from your ex? I would like to go to the states on a day trip but am afraid of not having the acquired documentation needed.
                          I know people do it everyday and dont get asked or questioned but am afraid I would be the 1&#37; that does

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Tugofwar, Since I posted this thread I did a little more research on my own. You should call the Consular Case Management Division 1-800-387-3124.

                            When I contacted them I was advised that as long as the order does not state the need for the parents consent and you have sole custody as well as a passport for your child, depending on where you go this is enough. This would be enough for my trip into Cuba.

                            You should call and inquire about travel to the states though. I have taken the kids across the border into Maine for day trips several times this summer and they never questioned me as long as the kids had valid passports, but again get the actual requirements from the number I gave you.

                            Good luck!!

                            Comment

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