Your divorce is final, custody and visitation plans are worked out. Now you can breathe a bit easier now that things have finally been settled, but many parents soon find out that their visitation guidelines didn’t specifically address everything that might come up. Spring break is quickly approaching and shortly after are the summer months. If these breaks aren’t clearly defined travel plans can be affected by custody agreements. You certainly don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you have pre-paid for a trip only to find your former spouse has planned a trip for the same dates. The following are some of the most common problems that are not clearly outlined in custody agreements:
If you want to travel outside the United States with your child, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “strongly recommends that unless the child is accompanied by both parents, the adult have a note from the child’s other parent” stating that he or she acknowledges and gives permission to the parent traveling out of the country with the children. The CBP does not have an official letter, but they recommend that the Parental Consent Letter include the following:
The letter is not required to be notarized but is strongly recommended. Speaking from an attorney’s standpoint, I would absolutely have the letter notarized to avoid any confusion or issues.
All of these solutions are based upon the assumption that the divorce did not involve any form of abuse and it is safe to let your former spouse know the whereabouts of you and your children.
Our goal at Kevin Hickey Law Partners is to cover all areas of divorce, custody, and visitation before the divorce is finalized. We agree that each parent is entitled to a chunk of uninterrupted vacation time with the children. However, if you find yourself in any of these situations mentioned, it is best to seek legal counsel. We will help you work to develop a new parenting plan that details these types of issues to avoid any future problems.
Things are about to get better. Call us.
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