The rules are not related to departure, but to entry. Many European nations require that your passport be valid for 90 days, or even 6 months, after you enter the country. Check the embassy (phone or web site) of the country(ies) you?re planning to visit. There?s still plenty of time to get expedited renewals.

It depends on where you're going. Some countries require as much as six months of validity. Some places will let you travel with a passport that is already expired (Bahamas). You really need to check the rules with the consulate/embassy of the country or countries involved, if you can't find it on their website. It is not an urban myth and it's not worth the hassle to be wrong about something like this. If you had planned to replace the passports anyway, the best bet might be to take care of that now.

Thanks so much for your replies. We're going to Costa Rica, so I'll check with their officials.

You have plenty of time to renew those passports by mail (without expedited service). You can simply download the forms from the web, send them off, and have them back in plenty of time.

These days, you cannot be too careful. And, much information, especially third hand and not from officials who determine whether you proceed or not to your destination, is quite unreliable.

You'll need to renew them anyway, so why not just take care if it now?

Actually, for children under 15, it's not that easy. The children and both parents must appear at the passport agency. Both parents must prove they are the parents, and provide their passports. If one parent cannot appear, he/she must sign an affadavit.

That's why I've been procrastinating, but you're right, I'd better get to it!

Thanks again for everyone's replies.

My 9 year old applied for a passport in March. My husband and I couldn't time it right to both go to apply so we used the affidavit. The affidavit seems like pretty flimsy proof to me but that is all they required. I didn't have to have any i.d. or passport from my husband or anything to prove he signed the affidvit. I just needed my passport. It turned out to be easier than I expected.

Sorry, I had no idea parent have to appear in person with the children whose passports were issued before age 16.

For what it's worth, both the Costa Rican Embassy website and Continental Airlines' destination information on Costa Rica indicate that your passport need only be valid 30 days from arrival date, and that you also need to show a prepaid ticket to exit Costa Rica.

Check out:
http://costarica-embassy.org/Documents.htm
(click on Visa Requirement --> Nationality --> United States)
or
http://www.continental.com/vendors/default.asp?SID=13E557DC7D2249DD97429E165EEB60E8&s=&i=TIMATIC