Any problems for one parent taking a minor abroad
 

Has anyone had any hassles at an airport with one parent taking a minor child overseas when the other parent isn't traveling with them?
I am leaving a week earlier (lucky me!) than my husband and 14 yr old son.
We both remember a problem a friend had a few years back trying to take her son to Mexico for vacation without the consent of her ex-husband. Is that only because of the divorce situation or do I need to write some sort of permission note?

I have not run into this problem personally but have heard that one parent travelling with a child has become an issue. The airlines have asked to see something from the other parent showing that they giver permission for the child to travel without them. I think the fear is parents taking off with children and not returning them.

If I were you I would call the airline you are flying and asking what their policy is. I would also, just to be safe, have your husband sign a letter stating that he is aware that you will be travelling with his son to Mexico without him being present and he has no objections. I would have him sign that letter in front of a notary and have them put the notary seal on it. That should suffice from what I have heard.

Again, no personal experience with this but have heard from other persons that it has been a problem. Get the letter of permission that is singed and notarized just to be safe would be my reccomendation.

I have also done this several times, for trips to Europe and PR. Never had anybody question me. But I think next time I'll get an affidavit from my husband since I have heard of this being a problem at times.

Like the prior poster suggests, it is very easy for your husband to have a permission letter notarized.

Here is a previous thread about this...

http://tinyurl.com/2y4eof

With the international laws on adoptions and custody and different last name issues, it's a great idea to have a notarized permission form signed by both parents.
http://cruisediva.com/permission_ltr.htm
A simple from like the link above should be fine. Chances are very good you won't need it, but it can't hurt to have it. Especially with very young children who can't communicate with airline, customs and passport control officials.

Thanks all.
I'll get the consent form -thanks for the download, TravMimi - filled in and notorized just in case.

Hi Nona, This happened to us while boarding a cruise to Alaska in 2004 in the cruise terminal. We live in the US. So it doesn't just happen in foreign countries.

I was with our 13 yr old daughter in one line and my husband had been directed to another line by personnel apparently trying to make ticket/id checking process go faster. When I arrived at the front of the line the cruise personnal would not let us through until I could produce my husband. Just telling him he was in another line didn't do it. There I was frantically trying to find him in the literally hundreds of people in the terminal while my daughter had to wait with the cruise person, they wouldn't let her go with me. Kind of surprising since we had already shown id and tickets twice in the terminal already that day, as well as at two airports.

I guess it just depends on who you get and whether they decide to fully enforce the rules on that particular day. Had it been just myself and my daughter taking the cruise we would have been turned away and sent home.

I think it's a good idea overall with child abductions and all, and the cruise personnal were nice about it, albeit firm. I just think there should be clear cut guidelines for everyone to follow.

Like I said in my earlier post I have never had this occur to me. However, when my children were young I travelled with them while the father stayed home without any problems. Times have certainly changed since then.

I have had clients who were separating and the other parent has taken off to other contries with the children. After a lot of hard work and months of court and government interaction the children have always been returned to the US but it is a nightmare of the parent waiting for the system to work. I have been lucky on the cases that I have had in this area that the children were taken to countries that had strong relations with the US and the other government helped in retrieving the children. In some countries the children would never be returned.

Emotions run high in custody actions and parents do crazy things. I am thrilled that airlines and cruises have begun insisting on parental permission from both parents. It may be inconvenient for some but if it saves even one parent the heartbreak of searching for their child in a foreign country I think it is worth it.

Just my opinion so take it for what it's worth.