Different surname to child

[Leeeeeee101010]

I want to go on holiday abroad with my child however they have a different surname to myself, the father is not in contact and does not have anything to do with my child.

They are on the birth certificate, however has not had contact with my child for the last 7 years.

My question is, as my child is 10, will I be able to go through the airport and leave the country with just our passports and birth certificates if I don’t have written permission from the birth father. Has anyone ever been asked of this while going through the airport or ever been stopped etc?

I don’t have any way of contacting them and I haven’t spoken to them in a number of years.

Government website says you need permission from anybody else with parental responsibility which would, I think, include a father who is on the birth cert:

https://www.gov.uk/permission-take-child-abroad

Whether anybody either in the UK or abroad would challenge you unless they had reason to think you were abducting the child is another question. I suspect that if you're a Brit going to EU, Med or Canaries there are far too many single parents, mixed families etc for you to get a second glance. If you're from another country, particularly one outwith the area I mention, and are leaving to go there then probably more likely to sound bells.

My children have a different surname to their Mother although they both have hers as a middle name. Never any issues while they were kids but I think, when they were minors, we were always travelling as a family. Son came home as an unaccompanied minor aged 14 with no problems.

My daughter, then 15 pushing 16, was challenged by the UK people at the Gare du Nord when boarding Eurostar with family friends whose son was her boyfriend - now husband. She and he were a few individuals ahead of his parents in the queue. All OK once they spoke for her but she was 'reminded' that she should have had a letter from us and that if they thought there was anything iffy Social Services in the UK would have been alerted.

You may succeed but it is not guaranteed.

The law states that you need the consent of everyone with parental responsibility to take a child out of the country or, failing that, an appropriate court order (either a Specific Issue Order or a Child Arrangements Order naming you as someone with whom the child will live). Since the father is named on the birth certificate, he clearly has parental responsibility.

Many people break this law every year without issues. However, every year a few people find they are denied boarding or refused entry at their destination. That is the risk you take.

If you want to be safe, you need to get written permission from your child's father. If he will not consent, you can go to court to get an appropriate order.

I am in a similar situation. I always take their birth certificates and my divorce paperwork. In 11 years, flown all over the world, never ever been asked for anything!

If I got my solicitor to write a letter saying I’m the only parent as he’s no contact and took their birth certificate would that suffice?

We are thinking about going to France are they strict there?

It’s not surnames, anyone who has PR. Nothing to do with surnames

Legally, no.

Which countries are strict varies over time.

I've been in and out of France maybe 8 times in 11 years and never been asked.

Consent doesn't need to be written. I have travelled into and out of the country numerous times with my DCs without my partner and haven't been asked for proof that they're allowed to travel. We have different surnames.
You clearly have tacit consent to do with your child as you wish, as he's not involved. If he didn't want you to travel with your child, he'd make it clear to you?

No, consent doesn't need to be written, but lack of written consent can result in you being denied boarding or refused entry at your destination. OP cannot legally rely on his lack of involvement. She needs his consent or a court order.

I've got a different surname from my daughter and we have been stopped every single time it's just the two of us. Daughter has been questioned about whether I'm really her mum or if I just told her to say that! I'm brown and daughter is fair skinned so guessing that is the main driver! I usually get asked for documentation on the way back into the UK bizarrely though.

Edited to add: also check guidelines of the country you are travelling too, as an example South Africa have very strict rules on documentation needed for a child travelling without both parents.

I have a different surname to my child and we have traveled in Europe and the US over the past ten years - never been asked for anything.

On a separate note this is giving me confidence not to saddle my child with my last name as middle name. I kept my last name as it has special meaning to me and my father (due to lots of people dying young and me being an only daughter.) However, my surname is an adjective.

Travel was the main thing but as I will need a letter anyway if we do travel alone then this is fine.

These threads always attract people who haven't had any problems. That does not alter the fact that taking a child abroad without the consent of everyone with parental responsibility is a criminal offence, although prosecution for a genuine holiday is unlikely. Nor does it alter the fact that some parents are denied boarding or refused entry at their destination every year.