Foreign travel with minor children | What documents are required?

We've had recent discussions on the ABA Family Law Listserv about how best
to guarantee that there are no glitches when a parent is traveling abroad with minor children and the other parent is not also traveling. The New York Times has published a helpful article discussing the issues and good suggestions for ensuring travel that doesn't involve border stops. The article, Practical Traveler: Stroller, Diapers, Paperwork may be read here.

Spring Break is fast arriving. Parents traveling to Mexico are usually required to present a notarized document from the other parent that will state with fair precision the knowledge of the trip, the expected departure and return dates, etc. An affidavit for parents to use that will facilitate border crossings can be found here.

Comments

[Alfreda Menlove]

Thank you again for all the help you provide to the rest of us. You are so gracious and generous to provide so much information and to be such a resource. Alfreda Menlove, Attorney at Law, Ann Arbor.

[Jan Anderson]

If in a shared custody agreement that states each parent must have permission from the other parent in order to take child out of the country, can a parent who refuses to give permission for his child to travel into Mexico with the other parent be forced by the court to give his permission in spite of his objection? The travel is recreational and by car to areas recognized by the state department to be dangerous.

[quire]

Yes, a parent could file a motion asking the court to require the other parent to execute such a permission form. However, under your fact pattern, it appears that the objecting parent has a good defense against giving the requested permission. Getting the the State Department bulletin into evidence would be key, of course.