passports for children

[nonnie12]

is this right my daughters ex-husband informed her he has got passports for their two children.he has done thiswithout her permission so he can just take them abroad whenever he likes.i was told by the passport office that he can do this because he has parental responsabilty when i said what if he doesnt bring them back they said talk to local abduction team about it.i said why dont both parents sign for a passport they said it would be to much of an inconvienence.well i know it wont stop a parent taking a child if they so wish but if both have parental rights then both should sign paperwork concerning their children. am i being stupid or what in wanting to protect children and parents from a lot of heartache

You can get an order preventing your children being taken out of the country, and you can get questioned if one parent alone is travelling with children. When dh took the children to Canada last year I wrote him a letter of authority. Of course you could forge this quite easily, so it's not that reliable I guess(hence the court order option). I suspect that as with many things it's down to immigration/customs officers as to whether they have concerns as far as follow up. You do have to have good reason to be concerned the other parent will not return the children to get the court order (I have received advice from a specialist solicitor about this).

I have actually been questioned when travelling alone with my dd's but I have my maiden name on my passport which is different from my dd. I wasnt prevented from travelling though, and this was to get back into the uk not leave it