Advice Sought - Passport & Consent for Travel

[Gilligan]

Hi there,

I know this question comes up rather often. But looking at options that will hopefully avoid this situation in the future.

I am a week and a half from a family vacation with my son. Mom has had the details of this travel for 7 months. I've also provided her with a consent letter. Mom however has refused to acknowledge the numerous requests to provide the passport & consent letter, however she has agreed to the travel. I am basically waiting not knowing if my son will show up with a Passport & consent letter until the day of our travel.

I am also planning another small trip to the US for 4 days in April. My son is in my care during these four days and will not affect Mom's access shcedule whatsoever. Although his mom agreed to this travel, she's now rescinded this agreement and is refusing to provide consent.

Mom is trying to re-negotiate extra time over Easter (she does not want to follow the court order) and is using travel as a pressure tactic.

I know that I likely would not get an emergency motion in time for my travel in 10 days, but it would be easy to resolve the trip in April.

Would it be reasonable to seek a court order authorizing me to travel without requiring a signed consent by Mom? She is obviously abusing her authority. I do not want to be doing this over and over again and just going to court will require me to take at least 2 days off work. It seems like Mom want's me to go through the effort, only to sign the documents and threaten to sue me if I proceed to court. Been there too many times.

My son is 11 years old and we have joint custody.

Thanks,

[dinkyface]

You might be able to get in an emergency motion - check at the courthouse. Let her know that you will be filing it tomorrow if she doesn't confirm that she will send the passport and notarized consent letter with the child in time.

I had a similar issue, and she handed over the docs at the courthouse minutes before the emergency motion (then tried to use that as proof of reasonableness - hah!).

You may also want to warn her that if this behavior continues, you will have grounds to file a motion in court to dispense with the need for her consent for travel, and for you to hold the passport.

[Janus]

In the future, provide a date for a response, failing which you will assume a lack of consent and will bring a motion to enforce compliance.

"I require a consent letter by March 3rd. I also require the child's passport by April 1st. Please indicate whether you will provide these items by the indicated time. If I do not hear from you by March 3rd indicating that you will be able to meet this deadlines, I will consult with my legal representative and take appropriate action".

The above is rough wording, fix as needed. Without deadlines, you are stuck floating in the wind.