Traveling with Your Child during a Divorce
So, what is the issue with traveling with your child or your children when you are separated or divorced from that child or that children’s other parent? I’ll tell you.
If it is your court-ordered time, you are allowed to take your child out of state, but you do need to tell the other parent where you’re going when you’ll be back, where you’re staying, and who’s going with you. That is a basic requirement because as a parent, you have a right to know who your children are around and where they basically are at all times. That doesn’t mean that the parent has to tell you if they go to the convenience store or the grocery store with their child or the mall, but if they’re taking them out of the state, they do need to inform you or you need to inform the other parent.
Now, international travel is a completely different thing. If you already have an existing order that forbids international travel except by agreement of the other party, it may need to be changed if it’s that broad because what it should say is that permission shouldn’t be unreasonably withheld. What does that mean? Well, if the other parents have noticed where the child’s going, then also if it’s your time to take that child, like it’s a summer break that belonged to you in the order or whatever, they shouldn’t be able to unreasonably withhold that permission.
Objections to Traveling with Your Child
Let’s say you wanted to take your child to someplace that’s subjectively dangerous, maybe objectively dangerous in the world right now. They may have a good basis for objecting to that trip. Let’s say you want to take your child on a vacation out of the country or even out of the state with a new girlfriend or boyfriend. That is typically frowned upon to introduce children into those relationships when they’re early in the stages of those relationships. So if the parent has a good basis for objecting, then they should bring it to the other parent. If they can’t agree, a lot of times you have to go to court over those things. But if you have an agreement, an existing order that forbids you from taking your children on trips, then you need to have it changed. And if you’re negotiating an order, it should never say something like that. It should at most say that you have to notify the parent of the trip and that it’s consultation if it’s out of state and it is permission required if you take them out of the country, but it should not be unreasonably withheld. You should also be aware as kind of a side issue that if you’re going to travel with a child out of state and you are divorced or separated from that child’s other parent, you really, really need a release from that other parent and the court order that says that you have part-time custody. Because in customs, sometimes they’ll want to see those things and you don’t want to get caught without them.
Reach Out to an Attorney
If you have any questions about these or any other issues, please feel free to consult us on tulsafathersrights.lawyer.
