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International Travel and Child Custody Issues

You want to travel out of the country. In order to obtain a passport, you will need both parents’ signatures. This can create issues if the other parent refuses to sign for the passport paperwork. Therefore, there are things that you can do to help alleviate this situation from occurring.

The steps are as follows:

1. Apply for passport well in advance of travel.
2. Request that the other parent sign the passport paperwork well in advance of travel.
3. That way if the other parent refuses to sign the passport paperwork, you can hire an attorney and request the court order the other parent to sign the passport paperwork.
4. That way you have several months to get a hearing before the court on this issue.
5. Remember, in order to obtain a date for an Orlando passport hearing in family court, it will probably take an attorney 3 months from the date the hearing is set to appear before the judge.

You should ask why the other parent is denying their signature on the passport paperwork. Are they simply being vindictive? Or, is there a valid concern? A valid concern may arise if you want to take the child(ren) to a country that is not included in The Hague Convention. A valid concern may arise if you want to take the child(ren) to an area that the United States of America State Department has posted a travel warning for that country due to safety concerns for Americans.

If the traveling parent and child(ren) have dual citizenship, you definitely want to make sure that the country they are traveling to is included in The Hague Convention. That is crucial.

If you were divorced, international travel parameters should have been included in your parenting plan. Parties usually include a paragraph that the traveling parent must notify the other parent a certain number of days in advance. The paragraph usually states that the traveling parent must give the other parent a detailed itinerary of flights, hotels, and phone numbers during the travel time. That way the other parent can reach the child(ren), if necessary.

Even if you have passports for the children there can be problems. If you are in the process of an Orlando divorce and plan to travel, make sure you obtain written permission from the other spouse allowing you to take the children out the country.