Do I need permission to take my daughter on holiday?

[sparkles778]

Posting for traffic as I really need some good advice.

I share a daughter with my ex, who has never paid any maintenance (claims to have no money) and only sees our daughter once a week for a few hours. This is sometimes once every two weeks. DD is with me 100% of the time and has never even spent a night where her dad.

This Summer, I would like to take her on her first holiday abroad. I mentioned this to my ex and he immediately got annoyed, saying that I need his permission and he won't approve of this holiday. I argued back that I can take my daughter wherever I like. But I need to know where I stand legally. Do I need his permission to take her out the country for a few weeks?

Never spent a night with her dad*

If he has parental responsibility and you don't have a Child Arrangements Order "live with" - yes you need his permission to leave the UK

Legally yes you do need his permission, does she have the same name as you or his name?

Mine have the same surname as my xh and I (though I’ve since changed my name), we have always written permission letters just in case however neither of us have ever been stopped, questioned or asked to provide anything.

Do you share a last name with your DD or does she have your exs?

I think if one parent says no then you can't and they're more likely to pick up on this if you have different surnames.

But, if you can, then he also can take her abroad without your permission (providing he has PR and is on the BC) regardless of how much he does or doesn't pay CM

I have never had an issue

The only time I was ever asked was last year, travelling with DD3 (13) - I had her birth certificate, divorce cert and deed poll to prove I was mum - no problem at all

If he's on her birth certificate, he legally has parental responsibility and as such you do need his permission to exit the country with her, ridiculous as it seems in your situation.

Whether you tell him however would be up to you. If she has the same surname as you it would be really unlikely you'd be stopped at passport control, you could take her birth certificate. I've only been stopped once, but have my name (didn't change it when I got married) as one of her middle names and that was sufficient for them to let us through.

You do need his permission (assuming he has parental responsibility/you do not have a court order), but they've only once asked to see a letter (that was traveling to France) in the 6 years that I've been traveling with my DC.

www.gov.uk/permission-take-child-abroad
Here's some info. As all PP have said, yes you do.

I have taken my dd abroad as a child several times without getting any formal permission off her DF.
My adult DD and her DH have taken his DD abroad about 20 times without having formal permission form her mother.

In reality, if you have the same surname you will not be asked about whether you have permission or not!

Yes you do and please don't listen to those saying they never had problems. They didn't have problems because the ex didn't report kidnapping which by the sound of things, yours might do. The only way you can take your child abroad is with the court order. You need to apply for specific issue order to get permission to travel. It costs over £200.

I would also start on child arrangement order. You will have yo give through mediation first. Seek legal advice to see how likely you are to get this granted, however if you do get child arrangement order you will not have further issues with travelling as you will be able to take your child for up to 28 days without ex consent.

Good luck

apparently Family Courts are really backlogged at the moment. I'd be very surprised if OP managed to get a CAO by summer.

Completely agree with this. Do it properly rather than rolling the dice.

Of course you need his permission. Would you like him to be able to just take her out the country without your permission? You both have the same PR regardless of who she sees more.

Yes you do need a letter from him. They do check sometimes, my friend was stopped at Heathrow with her two and she didn't have her exh's death certificate with her, thankfully the border staff were able to check she was telling the truth (and they trusted the word of her by then teenage children)

I'm completely on your side however would worry about useless Dad trying to play clever next year and take your DD abroad.
I'd set the ball rolling to make sure he can't.

Yes you do. I was stopped going to Portugal when mine were younger (I had a letter)

If you get a Child Arrangement Order then you can have it included that you can take your dd on holiday for up to 28 days without seeking his permission.

you will need permission - countries/officials may take different approaches but legally yes you need permission. I have taken ds on several trips since being a single parent sometimes not stopped, once asked for ds birth certificate and once was almost refused entry to a European country as I didn't have permission. My 7 year old was asked by border officers as to wether his dad knew where he was, I think we were only allowed to enter as he could confidently say yes and I offered to call him.

I travel with my DD who has a different surname all the time. I carry a birth certificate. No one has ever asked if I have her dad's permission to travel.

The issue is that he may report you. He could be spiteful and report you to the police for child abduction.

I got stopped my first time taking my dd abroad without their dad. We have the same name.

If you get a court order or his permission, you should also do something about her passport- there's a way of letting the passport office know about the court order, to prevent him just phoning the passport office and saying her passport has been stolen (so they put a block on it). I'm sorry I don't know the details of what to do to ensure only you can cancel her passport, but read something in a relevant Facebook group a few weeks ago that gave all the relevant information and only remember this much vaguely.