Child travelling overseas

[zippitydoda]

My OH has left me. I never took his name when we married. Our son has his name. Will I have problems when travelling abroad?

He won't sign an authorisation letter because he seems determined to hurt us.

I'm divorced and kids don't have my name. We've travelled extensively and we've never been asked for an authorisation letter. Just once border control asked my DS who this lady was and he said my mummy.

Just to repeat, whilst there is a good chance you would get away with it if you did nothing, every year some people lose their holidays because they are refused boarding or refused entry at their destination. If you get a CAO saying that your son lives with you, that will solve the problem permanently.

To get a CAO, the first step is to attend an MIAM (Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting). Assuming your ex won't agree to mediation, you then need to complete form C100 and submit it with the appropriate fee. It costs £232 to apply for an order, but you may be entitled to a reduction if you receive certain benefits or have a low income.

You might want to point out to him that, if he continues to refuse, you will take him to court, that he will lose and that you will then ask the court to order him to pay the court fees. If he realises it is going to cost him some money, it might concentrate his mind.

I took copies of all my court order information with me when we travelled.

We never got asked anyway.

My eldest travelled in the second car with my mum, they don't have the same surname but had no issues either.

A court order which shows you have shared or majority residency, taken with you, will help. It might take time though, and he's likely to be difficult by the sound of it. But you'll be fine.

That’s not correct. You can only do that if you have a “lives with” child arrangements order, which in old money, means you have custody of the children.

If you have such an order you can legally take the kids out of the country for 28 days without the consent of the other parent, even if they have parental responsibility.

The majority of child arrangements orders these days are shared care orders, even if there is a parent that has the kids more than 50% of the time.

If you don’t have a child arrangements order in place you can apply to the court to decide, for a specific issues order.

I haven't found so, neither does anyone I know. I have a different name AND a different nationality, and still...bupkiss. They do look very like me though, there is really no mistaking that they are mine.

I've never had a permission letter and never been asked. My daughter has also been on holiday with my mum once and my sister twice, neither of them had any difficulty either. Returning to the UK sometimes she's been asked who she's travelling with and where she's been but that's it. She has a diff name to me and a different name to my sister and mum.

I think there’s an important difference between never being asked at the border for evidence that the child can legally travel abroad, and never asking the other person with parental responsibility, for permission for them to travel, where it is required to do so.

If permission of the other parent is required and it hasn’t been sought, either verbally, or in writing, you could be committing a criminal offence. It’s a bit like saying you’ve always done 50 mph in a 40 mph zone, but you’ve never been asked what your speed was or pulled over by the police.

However, it is of course quite possible that having it in writing might not be required, if the other parent is aware of the travel plans and they are happy with them, and this has been communicated verbally.

The difficulty comes when the child is taken abroad in circumstances when one or more of the above does not apply. You could find yourself in hot water.

It’s a difficult area for separated parents. I am about to embark on the exact same discussion in a few weeks time and I know the other parent is not going to be happy that I am planning a foreign holiday, mainly because they are not in a position to do the same. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Happy travels! 😊

DD returned from Spain last week with 1 year old DGS. They have different surnames and she's no longer with his father. She was asked for letter of consent from him and DGS's birth certificate. Luckily she had both. This wàs at Prestwick Airport Glasgow

Blimey, that is the first time I've ever heard of anyone being asked for the letter. But still - asked on the way back in, what on earth use is that?!

I was with them and the guy said he always asks for it. TBH I think he was disappointed that my DD was on the ball 😂

Yes, I am so gutted never to have been asked for my permission letter, in all these years of carrying it. My ds is 18 today, my suggestion for how to spend the day was to go on the Eurostar to Brussels so that we could come back through passport control into the UK without anyone asking me for anything! (We are not doing that).

Yes - I've been asked twice (when traveling to Canada) and so has my spouse. Its just something when carry at all times now.

I have been asked several times when taking the DCs friends abroad with us, luckily (thanks to MN) I had permission letters from their parents.
The letters were taken at face value though and while they were witnesses it wasn’t by a legal professional or anything

I’ve been asked going in to a European state. You really do need it. Court order should be very straightforward to obtain, it’s unreasonable not to be able to take your kids on holiday, unless they are eg subject to care proceedings.

This happened to me 20 years ago, as a 10yo child, on the Canadian border. We were very nearly put on the next plane home, but after being questioned for what seemed like a long time but was probably an hour in reality, we were allowed in. We started taking a letter of authorisation after that.