Notary needed for holiday consent

[JackThayer]

I'm taking DD to New York at Easter. Me and DP are not married but live together/are in a relationship. I understand that I need to take a letter giving me consent to travel with her but when I was looking for templates one of them said it needed to be signed by a witness. Does anyone have an experience of this?
TIA

I have travelled within Europe with my son who has a different surname to me and all I have taken was his birth certificate. Not sure if the states are any different

I would just take a letter from DP that contains a way of them contacting your DP to check that it's true. I flew via Miami several years back with DS with a different surname and we weren't stopped. Some places (South Africa I think) are very strong on it but to be honest as a white woman I suspect you probably won't be stopped.

Does your child have their dads name, you don't say?

She has his surname. I've got her birth certificate to take with me

I've gotten asked when flying to the states, I bring a signed letter and our marriage certificate. Birth certificate would also do. Been asked for it maybe half the times we've flown.

Why are you assuming she's white? Also "as a white woman" I've been asked to produce this stuff!

How old is your DC

That's very relevant

If they are old enough to talk and say that you are their mum then you're fine

If they're under 5 then it's trickier and you'll need letters from their Dad

America is very strict with these type of things. Get a signed letter. A solicitors office will do it for £20.

She's 7

I've not seen anywhere I need a letter from a solicitor?

I had to take a notarised letter last summer when I flew via the US to Central America - it was the central American countries that needed the letter. I didn't get asked to show it at all.

Sorry just feel really panicked now. Thought a letter from him would be enough. I know I used the term notarised but I thought it meant signed by a witness does it mean signed by a solicitor.

If it’s North America, then you can have him type a letter, print it and sign it and photocopy the letter with his ID at the bottom and a number to contact him.

Thanks he's typed a letter. I will photocopy his ID and passport!

The advice is a notarised letter is ‘preferable’. I’m a notary and do quite a lot of travel consents but I expect most people just take a signed letter (with contact phone number on) and birth certificate. If you want to find a notary the notary Faculty Office will have a list, as will The Notaries Society. I wouldn’t use a solicitor as you’re then spending money but not giving them what is asked for.

I'm in a flap now so sorry for the stupid questions. What actually is a notary? Do I contact them and ask for one of them to witness DP signing and then they sign as well?

Yes exactly. A notary is a lawyer who authenticates documents mostly for use abroad. Just phone up a local one and ask for a quote. They’ll probably want you to email them the consent form. If you’re happy with their quote then DP can make an appointment to go in with his ID and your child’s birth certificate to sign his consent in front of them and they will add their certificate, signature and seal to the document. They may ask for you to go in as well.

Just in case other people see this:
The cost is nothing like £20. It's £190 just for the appointment to discuss the letter and then £90 for the letter.

Not sure if you mean that a solicitor would charge this much. It should really be done by a notary. Notaries’ charges vary but many would charge considerably less than you suggest.

Just to say that we arrived in NY today. They didn't even ask to see her birth certificate let alone a letter from DH!