Passport for Child

[CSO286]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MN

Hey, everyone. I'm just looking for a little bit of advice on how to word things on my application for my daughter's passport.

Short backstory:
We were never married
Ten year old daughter
Paternity established, ncp never sued for shared custody, etc
Father chose to not be part of her life, limited communication (PC 1-2x every couple of years--usually after I called to inform him of major occurances; dd surgery, major illness), nothing outside of court ordered child support
CS Arrearages greater than $10K

We are planning several trips to Canada and a vacation to Ireland to see friends and family. Hoping to make it easier on me I mailed down a parental consent form for him to sign so I can get her a passport.

When I called him about it, he said that he refuses to sign the consent "becasue If I can't leave the country, there's no reason she should either."

Ther rest of the conversation was just a big ol' dramatic argument......His argument is that if I can afford these trips (and I live only a couple of hours from Canada--doesn't cost us a small fortune to go, so Canada is a day trip for us.) then I should send her down to see him in TX. Lots of added drama there....

I'm filling out the Parental consent form and am wondering how much info they require? This is what I'm planning to write on their form:

Child's father, Absent Parent Name, has opted to not be involved in her life outside of paying court ordered child support. We were not married at the time of her birth. They have never met, there is no court order for visitaiton or parenting time. Attempts (by mail) to request his signature on this form have gone unanswered. Certified mail with this form enlcosed have either been unanswered or returned.

Is this sufficient? What have others put on thier forms? What works, etc?

Thanks in advance.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MN

Hey, everyone. I'm just looking for a little bit of advice on how to word things on my application for my duaghter's passport.

Short backstory:
We were never married
Ten year old daughter
Paternity established, ncp never sued for shared custody, etc
Father chose to not be part of her life, limited communication (PC 1-2x every couple of years--usually after I called to inform him of major occurances; dd surgery, major illness), nothing outside of court ordered child support
CS Arrearages greater than $10K

We are planning several trips to Canada and a vacation to Ireland to see friends and family. Hoping to make it easier on me I mailed down a parental consent form for him to sign so I can get her a passport.

When I called him about it, he said that he refuses to sign the consent "becasue If I can't leave the country, there's no reason she should either."

Ther rest of the conversation was just a big ol' dramatic argument......His argument is that if I can afford these trips (and I live only a couple of hours from Canada--doesn't cost us a small fortune to go, so Canada is a day trip for us.) then I should send her down to see him in TX. Lots of added drama there....

I'm filling out the Parental consent form and am wondering how much info they require? This is what I'm planning to write on their form:

Child's father, Absent Parent Name, has opted to not be involved in her life outside of paying court ordered child support. We were not married at the time of her birth. They have never met, there is no court order for visitaiton or parenting time. Attempts (by mail) to request his signature on this form have gone unanswered. Certified mail with this form enlcosed have either been unanswered or returned.

Is this sufficient? What have others put on thier forms? What works, etc?

Thanks in advance.

Is he on her birth certificate? Does she have his last name?

 

[milspecgirl]

it is going to be VERY hard to get it. I had to send mine in 3 times and that was WITH his consent. They are super picky. Best bet is to get a court order allowing you to get a passport for the child. You can also call the passport customer service and explain, but I doubt you will get very far.

 

[CSO286]

Yes, he is on the BC, and no, she doesn't have his last name.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

When you received the court order for child support, does the order state that you have SOLE custody?

If not, file a motion for the judge to order that you have a passport for the child.

 

[CSO286]

The order does not specifically state that I have sole custody. I know that MN defaults sole custody to Mom when parents are not married.

I've been looking through mncourts.gov for the appropriate form, but I can't find one. There isn't a custody agreement to modify, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't go into a motion to mod CS.....So what form should I file? Or am I better off just getting an atty for this? I kind of figured it ought to be easy enough I could do it pro se......

 

[LdiJ]

The order does not specifically state that I have sole custody. I know that MN defaults sole custody to Mom when parents are not married.

I've been looking through mncourts.gov for the appropriate form, but I can't find one. There isn't a custody agreement to modify, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't go into a motion to mod CS.....So what form should I file? Or am I better off just getting an atty for this? I kind of figured it ought to be easy enough I could do it pro se......

You could simply file for sole custody. If you can get a sole custody order then you don't need him to sign for the passport. If he then fights you on the sole custody, and it looks like he would win, then you can address the passport issue with the judge.

 

[mistoffolees]

Deleted - never mind

 

[CJane]

My sister recently applied for, and received, both tourist passports and "Official Passports" (I didn't even know there were two different kinds) for her and her son.

His father IS on the birth certificate, paternity is established, he pays child support and covers the child on health insurance as required by the state. Child does NOT have his last name.

When applying for the tourist passport (which allows travel outside the country for 90 days), she simply stated on the form that CHILD'S NAME and FATHER'S NAME have no relationship and he has no form of legal custody.

She received the passport within 3 weeks with no hitches at all.

When applying for the "official passport" (they're moving to Germany for a 3 year employment assignment, and this will allow them to remain for that period of time), she put the same info on the application, and filled out a separate affidavit stating that there is no relationship between father and child, and that there is no custody/visitation order in place. She was told she'd have to wait 90 days for the paperwork to process, and to go ahead and move to Germany as planned and await the decision on the official passport.

Two weeks later, she received the official passports (ahead of schedule) with no questions asked.

There were no issues with travel (no need for notarized consent, etc).

 

[milspecgirl]

wow- cjane. I would love to know who her processor was. We had a time of it getting 2 of our 3 passports.

mom to my sd would never send the paperwork back. tried using the custody papers showing sole legal- got rejected. hubby finally drove 6 hours to where mom was to get her to sign the papers. had to take his buddy with him to notarize

with my daughter- dad did sign, but he dated it 1 day off from the date the notary signed and dated (looked at the calendar wrong). got rejected. 2nd time, somone whose last name is the same as my daughters middle name notarized and they rejected it because we couldn't prove the notary wasn't related to my daughter. Her father and I both had to call the passport people because we were leaving in 3 days and had been trying to get her passport for over 4 months.

 

[CSO286]

Well, I'm starting to fill out the paperwork to establish custody (that packet appeared to be the most appropriate one for me), and am asking the court to grant

-sole physical/legal to me, or joint legal, with a requirement that ncp to sign passport permission

-supervised (by me) visitation in child's community (this would be because it would be seriously long distance, and I am beyond uncomfortable with putting dd alone on a plane (for her first ever flight) to meet people she doesn't know.


Any additional advice?

Thank you, CJane, I'll do that at the same time I'm working on this.

 

[mistoffolees]

My sister recently applied for, and received, both tourist passports and "Official Passports" (I didn't even know there were two different kinds) for her and her son.

His father IS on the birth certificate, paternity is established, he pays child support and covers the child on health insurance as required by the state. Child does NOT have his last name.

When applying for the tourist passport (which allows travel outside the country for 90 days), she simply stated on the form that CHILD'S NAME and FATHER'S NAME have no relationship and he has no form of legal custody.

She received the passport within 3 weeks with no hitches at all.

When applying for the "official passport" (they're moving to Germany for a 3 year employment assignment, and this will allow them to remain for that period of time), she put the same info on the application, and filled out a separate affidavit stating that there is no relationship between father and child, and that there is no custody/visitation order in place. She was told she'd have to wait 90 days for the paperwork to process, and to go ahead and move to Germany as planned and await the decision on the official passport. In this case, OP will need sole custody or a court order allowing a passport.

Same thing applies in going to some countries. Canada, for example, requires a letter from the other parent if you're traveling with a minor.

Two weeks later, she received the official passports (ahead of schedule) with no questions asked.

There were no issues with travel (no need for notarized consent, etc).

She was lucky - or the passport office messed up - or she didn't simply state that the father had no visitation but also stated that the father was UNAVAILABLE.

The rules are here:
http://www.cpclerk.co.summit.oh.us/Passport/PassportForMinor.pdf

The only way to get sole custody without the other parent's approval or a court order is an affidavit that the other parent IS NOT AVAILABLE. Since OP does know where the father is, that doesn't apply here. If she fills out that form, she's committing perjury.

 

[CSO286]

She was lucky - or the patent office messed up - or she didn't simply state that the father had no visitation but also stated that the father was UNAVAILABLE.

The rules are here:
http://www.cpclerk.co.summit.oh.us/Passport/PassportForMinor.pdf

The only way to get sole custody without the other parent's approval or a court order is an affidavit that the other parent IS NOT AVAILABLE. Since OP does know where the father is, that doesn't apply here. If she fills out that form, she's committing perjury.

Good thing I'm not, then, huh?

Instead I'm filing to establish custody and including a graduated long distance parenting plan (which include webcam/phone/email options). I'm also asking the court to require that ncp see child at least four times over a two year period before she flies down to see him.

 

[mistoffolees]

Good thing I'm not, then, huh?

Instead I'm filing to establish custody and including a graduated long distance parenting plan (which include webcam/phone/email options). I'm also asking the court to require that ncp see child at least four times over a two year period before she flies down to see him.

That seems reasonable.

 

[CSO286]

That seems reasonable.

Thank you. I was hoping it was, but I know I'm possessive, so.....