So quick question, she is still refusing to sign the travel consent form and wanting to inhibit travel without any valid reason. What would be my next steps to remedy this past mediation (which is a black & white issue)?
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I suspect you have the right to travel. There is no law that says you cannot travel unless your agreement or order says "you shall not travel unless".
You just are lacking the formal consent of you ex. You have asked her to sign consent and she has refused.
I would say:
I am traveling to the US with the children. I have requested your cooperation in completing the required travel documents and you have refused.
Please be advised I will be traveling to XX place despite your lack of cooperation. This correspondence is your formal notice of my intent to travel; AND my formal and last request for you to sign the requisite travel plans. Any costs incurred by me as a result of your non-cooperation will be sought for reimbursements.
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I had the same experience. Ex for no reason suddenly refused to allow travel outside of the country with the kids, she even said in front of the kids "I won't let you ever take the kids out of the country again". Her and her lawyer refused to respond to my requests for rationale on their position. So I brought forth an offer of settlement that included such things as neither party can deny the other fair and reasonable travel including outside of the country, spelled out how many days before consent form had to be produced, how many days before travel it had to be notarized and returned signed by the non travelling parent, when and how passports were produced etc. Took it to the Settlement Conference with the other party served for a motion the following week on this issue and others in the offer of settlement. Judge told us she would set aside the motion if we went out and got agreement on most of these items, only then with the threat of the motion and the influence of the judge did they agree and I went on my first vacation with the kids in almost 2 yrs this past summer.
You've already got most of this in place so the simple answer is bring forth a motion and nail her for the costs while at it. You're following the terms, she is not. No judge is going to deny children the chance to see the world if it is a reasonable requests and if you don't have supervised access or any other issues like that.
Others have valid points too but if you want to ensure you don't have trouble crossing into the U.S. you're best to have the consent form, and you're best to get before a judge as she'll look like an idiot.
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Or just take the path of least resistance and go on your trip. Bring a copy of the email exchanges with you and a copy of your sep agreement. Typically the border guard asks you to open the car door and looks at kids. Only once in my 200+ times crossing the border have they ever asked my children a question. And that questions was "who is driving the car".
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It's crazy because it's my week with them (we share one week on/one week off) and she's now threatening to call police to seize my passports and call border patrol. These threats do not phase me but what I don't get is her rationale to not let me travel as she does not "trust" me. I've been told this is not even a viable excuse. Our agreement is as such that we simply sign the form and that's it. You can't object if it's your week. I would never object, ever! As the previous posts state, I've withheld returning the passports to her as she's acting in bad faith, period. Refusing to sign the passport renewal, refusing travel with no justification amongst other things. It's sad.
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It's crazy because it's my week with them (we share one week on/one week off) and she's now threatening to call police to seize my passports and call border patrol.
I agree with the advice Serene gave and will be following myself if I have any issues from my ex obtaining a passport. First send a letter requesting authorization from your lawyer....if still unsuccessful, file a motion and request costs if you still don't get it. If you go the motion route, bring the forms you need to court so they can sign it while the judge is there.
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Nexus requires an interview and finger prints. That will surely piss mom off if she gets wind of that.
Remember you can't pursue what she didn't do before she didn't do it. Meaning you haven't left on your trip. You can't say she denied you when in fact she just hasn't done it yet. Be careful of this.
Just GO ON THE TRIP. If it falls through THEN you definitely have good reason to pursue costs if you get stopped. And again, for the record, I have traveled an enormous amount of times with my own children, my step children and other people's children WITHOUT any biological parents in my vehicle and I've only been asked for a letter ONE time. The odds are in your favour!
Something else to remember, if you file a motion for the passports she can ask for the judge to rule on anything else in her response. Be careful of this.
Lastly, she wants to engage with you negatively. That is her goal. You are playing into her hands.
If you have specific questions PM me.
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I was just concerned after she has already voiced her "denial" with the trip that if I tried and she's already raised red flags, she could potentially go to court and try something?! I really don't know much about this stuff, forgive my ignorance. We have a separation agreement that has been inforce for almost two years and only now is these issues coming up.
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