Taking child abroad

[Navigatingstepparenting]

Hello

I am hoping someone could might my mind at ease: I am travelling with my two children one has my surname one doesn’t. I have both their birth certificates and things. The kids live with me, no court order but their dads seem then roughly every other weekend.one of the dads is refusing to sign at the minute (one with the different surname) as he’s not getting his own way about his weekends with the kid trying to cut down a little Time. Did anyone get pulled going into America for letters to prove they are allowed to take your own child from the other parent?
Basically he wants to not have to get him from school at 4pm, he wants me to stay on call all day Friday and get him and hold onto him until 6.30 on a Friday until he can get there as got himself sacked again! And has a new job that apparently won’t allow him to finish work half a hour early two days a month to accommodate having his child. I know they can it’s just his excuse. Anyways as I haven’t yet agreed to it and stated once I drop him
to school at 9am on hus Friday it’s his responsibility to sort childcare he’s gone off the handle, kicking off, threatening to
Expose secrets to my partner, which he won’t because he’s borrowed £500 from me the last few months and doesn’t pay it back and also wouldn’t want his gf knowing this and that he use to ask me for photos etc. he’s now said in a group chat with our kid he will consider signing it. I am stressed!

Does the first half relate to the second??

I would be very wary of taking a child to the USA with any issues with parental agreement difficulties.

@Marroonyes it does. It’s stating why he’s being an asshole. Would I be able to get a quick legal
order granted that I can take him. Would I likely be ok.

Go on the government website and get the advice from there but basically you need consent or a court order.

Legally you need the written permission of all parents to travel outside the jurisdiction - ie abroad. Or a court order.

I've been asked before to produce my documents for DC as we have a different name. (My ex refused contact so I took him to court)

I wouldn't risk it.

For a genuine holiday you will have no trouble getting a Single Issue Order allowing you to take your child on holiday. If time is short, you can get an emergency order.

How old is your child? I've taken mine three rime to USA and was never asked anything from their dad despite them having his game andine being different. They were over 10 though.

These threads always attract posts from people who have gone abroad without the necessary consent or a court order. Mostly, people will get away with it if they do this. However, every year some people are refused boarding at the airport or turned back at their destination because they cannot show that they are legally entitled to take their child out of the country.

We were asked about a cousin of the DDs when we took her to France with us. Luckily we had a letter signed by both parents.

In my case, the dad didn't have PR, so I didn't need permission (born before being on BC automatically gave you PR) so it was easy, but the authorities were not to know. Never had an issue in the 15 plus years we travelled every year. However, I can't imagine being at the airport and not being able to get on the plane or worse, being turned down at destination.

The kid is nearly 9. Luckily he decided to sign it after telling the kid all weekend he doesn’t want him going on holiday

I personally wouldn’t risk travelling without his written consent, especially to the US and when your child has a different surname. The birth certificate is useful, but it doesn’t replace permission from everyone with parental responsibility. You might not be questioned, but if you are, it could cause a lot of stress and delays.
If he continues refusing purely because of the disagreement over contact arrangements, you may need legal advice about applying to court for permission to travel. This explains the rules and what documents you may need: https://consultantlm.uk/consultant-article/can-a-parent-take-a-child-abroad-without-consent
I’d also keep screenshots of the messages showing that he is using the consent as leverage. Hopefully he calms down and signs it, but I wouldn’t leave it until just before the trip.