Form to bring step-daughter

[jam82]

My husband and I want to bring his daughter, my step-daughter an our son on a cruise. We have her passport. Does her biological mother need to sign any other kind of persmission?

[crusinmama06]

There is some question whether you need more than a passport. Some say yes they were asked for it, some say no. When I travel out of the country without my husband (even though we have passports) I always bring a notarized permission to travel letter just in case.

 

 

LETTER OF CONSENT TO TRAVEL

 

 

 

 

I ___________________________________________________provide my consent for

NAME OF PARENT

 

my child(ren) ____________________________________________ to travel with

NAME OF CHILD(REN)

 

________________________________ to ____________________________ from

NAME(S) OF ADULT TRAVEL COMPANION(S) COUNTRY/COUNTRIES

 

________________________________ to ____________________________ .

DATE DATE

 

(List specific travel information in the space below such as airline, flight number, cruise line and ship or tour operator.)

__________________________________________________ _________________

__________________________________________________ _________________

__________________________________________________ _________________

 

Signed____________________________________________ _________________

PARENT'S NAME

 

Telephone/Contact:__________________________________________ ________

Address:

__________________________________________________ _________________

 

__________________________________________________ _________________

 

__________________________________________________ _________________

 

Signature of Notary:___________________________________________ _______

 

Notary's Printed Name: ____________________________________________

 

Notary Seal:

[6rugrats]

A passport is not the same as a Consent to Travel letter. Just because you gave consent for your child to obtain a passport, does not mean you are giving consent for one parent to take a child out-of-the country. Get one signed and notarized from the child's mom. You may not be asked for it, but if you are and you don't have it, you could be denied boarding. It appears likelihood of being asked in the Caribbean is low, for Mexico travel it's pretty high.

[jam82]

Thanks for the input. I love the form. I will positively use it. It has all the info I was looking for. From past experiences there were very few questions at check in. However, I don't know if it's better to be upfront with the form or just have them assume and then give it if they ask. Any advice?

[kat89447]

I am traveling with my dd without my dh and I was informed that I would have to have a notorized letter. I know NCL has one you can print out on their website and I am sure other cruise lines do as well. I would also bring a copy of the custody agreement, if you have one, just to be safe. I have always been told it's better to have and not need, than to need and not have. It may be a bit paranoid, but other countries have their own rules and can be difficult at their ports. Have a great cruise.

[bwjm]

Here's a for in the PDF version, hope you can get to it. For travel with one parent or no parents, need it for my trip with DD and one of her friends.

child.pdf

[jam82]

Thanks for the input. I plan to bring a passport, court docs, original birth certificate and a notorized letter. Carnival had told me they only need the passport, but better safe than sorry.

[jerin]

Thanks for the input. I plan to bring a passport, court docs, original birth certificate and a notorized letter. Carnival had told me they only need the passport, but better safe than sorry.

I agree with you. I'd go ahead and bring it all. Definitely better to have it than to encounter problems because you don't have it. Have a great cruise!

[MTcruiser]

I'm probably being paranoid...but heres our story.

 

My son is 6 years old my daughter 10.

 

They both have different dads.

 

On my son's birth certificate the father is unknown.

What do i do in this situation?

 

When i divorced my daughters dad, he had abandoned us. he is a foreign citizen. Havent heard from him since 1999. When i got divorced my papers say i have custody, but he has supervised visits, but of course we dont know where he is...and im remarried. To get divorced i did a notice in the paper for 2 months. THen without any response from him, we were divorced.

 

So what i need to know, is what do i need to bring. I got my sons passport just fine, but had to fill out lots of papers, for my daughter, and also had to write a letter stating why i couldnt give them a consent from her dad. So now i dont know what to do? Maybe you guys could help.

 

Thanks

[kat89447]

Check with your lawyer who filed your divorce. You might be okay bringing the divorce and custody agreement, if it states he was unresponsive for the divorce. Also, if possible you might be able to go and get a document from the courts stating that his wherabouts are "officially" unknown and that should be enough. Hopefully, no one will even bother asking.

 

My friend had a letter from the courts stating that her ex had not responded to either the divorce or child support and got a temporary full custody order and used that until she finally got his parental rights removed. In our state, if after 60 days of no contact to the child, then you can get an order of abandonment and use that to file for term of rights. You have to file for abandonment to start the clock ticking unless you can prove thru lack of support or in your case, no response to the divorce. Good luck and talk to your lawyer quick. He or she might be able to get you the temp. order without having to go to court in time for your trip.

 

I do suggest that you do eventually file for the term of rights though, this will always be a problem for trips, school and other issues. If he has truly disappeared with the intent of ignoring his duties, it is better legally for you and your child. I have been there myself, and the thought of a man (who hadn't been there for my DD's entire life) to have more legal rights if I should die, then my DH who has raised her, scared me to death.

 

Have a great cruise with the family.

[bwjm]

kat89447...

I too learned that if I should die he could walk right back into her life and have all kinds of rights. It pissed me off, then got me working on getting things lined up in case I do!

But, the social worker at the hospital helped me a little with this, too, and filed in my state as REFUSED. That way, should he ever try to argue my will, it states on her birth certificate of where he's been all these years. I never thought of looking into the abandonment of it. Problem is, he is local, remarried, 2 more kids (that's a total of 9 I know of now!:eek: ) and I'm sure if I did the paper thing, someone would tell him. May be I should walk up to his door one day, and ask him to sign off on rights, too?

Oh, what a wonderful world this is, when he has more rights as being a dead beat, and all we want to do is take our kids on vacation! I don't have the problem with him being listed on birth certificate, so it was easy for me to get things around for my DD (she's 14) like MT had with her son.

MT - wish you best with DD and enjoy your cruise! I do hope all goes well for you and your family!

[kat89447]

BW, I agree. I never in my life even thought I would have to go thru the process. My ex went back to drugs and alcohol after being sober over 10 years. went downhill fast after that. Luckily I met a wonderful man who is very involved with his children's lives. It was a long terrible process, and was way worth it. I would try to knock on his door lol that would be awesome. My DD was officially adopted by her step dad right before xmas three years ago. It amazes me and saddens me that her biologic could care less about her, but his loss and my DH's gain.

[bwjm]

His loss is also my DH gain. Unfortunately, he (my DH) is exception to the rule. His ex took DS away - PA to AZ and let him (DS) call him at the age of 12 and tell him that he had a new dad now and didn't need my DH anymore. He has not spoken to his son since then (15 years ago now) but he paid his child support weekly until DS was 18. So, my DH wasn't good enough to be included in his life with pictures, letters, or phone calls, but was good enough to pay child support. Now that angers me, and is something I don't understand, either!:confused:

Wish you the best of luck. My ex was worried enough of what I was going to say to DD as she was growing up, and I told him I wouldn't say anything (I haven't) about him, BUT when she turns 16 (370 days from now!) I would drop her off on HIS doorstep and HE could tell her where HE has been for the last 16 years. His face paled when I said that, and now he's learned the I do know where he's living, and his new wife and I have a common friend! (his new wife doesn't know who I am, unless he told her, but I doubt it!) So, I'm sure he's doing math and trying to figure out when I'm coming to his house!:D

DD and DH are my world, and we have a bit of a different life, but it works very well for us. He has enjoyed watching her grow up, and does help me with $$ should I need it, but he did not adopt her, and he and I are not married on paper, either, but are committed to one another. We do consider ourselves a family unit, and do act as such, though.

Wish you best of luck on all! Also, enjoy your cruises.

[kat89447]

It was definately worth it though. DD tells everyone how she got to "pick" her dad. lol She says she's a very good shopper. It's strange the paths we lead, and kids are not easily fooled. Eventually all kids take the journey to find out for themselves and decide for themselves. Hopefully your DH will get his DS back when he's older.

[bwjm]

KAT

But his DS is 26 now, and nothing to date. Although we did hear about him skydiving in Fla with his grandmother, we got that newspaper artical, but that was dumb luck that we came across that. I figure one day his DS, if he was raised right (but juding by the phone call he was permitted to make at age 12:rolleyes: ) you'd think he'd call, just out of curiosity. DH would love to sit and talk to him, but he won't push the issue and try first (man thing i guess).

My DD brags that she doesn't have a dad just to be 'different' than all the other kids! She doesn't like to be like anybody else, so she stresses the fact that she has none. We are close, as it hasn't been the easiest road to take, but it has been worth it for me!

She sometimes asks if I'm still taking her when she's 16 (that's the only thing i've told her about her 'dad' - 'you can as him when your 16') and I tell her yes, if that's what she really wants. At 10 she hated him, and wanted to 'beat him up' but at 14, she didn't have the time of day to give to him. Now we're almost 15 :eek: , and she doesn't say too much about it. I guess time will tell. And so glad your DD adjustsed to it too, sounds like! Aren't you glad she picked a good dad for herself? Especially since, if you're like me, he had to go through you to get to her!

Brenda

[kat89447]

I think kids adjust better than the parents. lol My DD and DH are two peas in a pod. I got really lucky finding him, and wasn't looking. lol I think its a shame his older son has missed out, but you will never know what he was told while he grew up and unfortunately may never know. Your daughter sounds wonderful and smart. She may be uninterested because she has a set timeline and is making the best of it. It will be interesting when she is 16 if her desire changes.

My daughter gained a great family along with her dad, 3 step brothers (he raised by himself) a sister in law, nephew (3 mos), a granny and an aunt/uncle and cousins. We live in NV, my side in MO so its nice to have close family around. I wish it worked out as well for everyone as well as it did for us. Even at 10 she knows and appreciates how lucky we got, and she knows not everyone is so lucky. It was a big part of why we went thru the process of term of rights and adoption. Even her biodad's family supported the decision and helped us convince him that it was in her best interest. He only did two things right in his whole life, creating her and letting us do this. I think he saw that it was going to happen anyway, so he decided to be in "control" of the situation. She's only seen him a handful of times in her life, and most of the time he lied to her. She called him out on it the last two times lol. One thing I will always remember is, when the judge asked her if she knew what being adopted meant, she answered that it meant she got to choose who was her family forever, no matter how much trouble she got in they would always be there. She was 7, judge laughed and told her that summed it up nicely.

[katyj]

My Dh and myself are taking DD and DGS with us on Carnival glory in September although DD and the baby's father are together, they are not married but the baby has his father's name. To get a notorized letter in this country costs $160 which seems a lot for just one days trip.

 

This quote was taken from our government travel advisory site about Mexico specifically.

 

Travelling with children

 

Families with children should note that since January 2005, it is no longer required that minors travelling alone or with only one parent needing to have a notarised letter from their parents. Minors only need a valid passport to fulfil the general migration requirements applied to their nationality.

[notentirelynormal]

My Dh and myself are taking DD and DGS with us on Carnival glory in September although DD and the baby's father are together, they are not married but the baby has his father's name. To get a notorized letter in this country costs $160 which seems a lot for just one days trip.

 

$160? Are you having a lawyer prepare the document? I can prepare the document myself and get it notarized free at my bank and even when I've paid for it, it hasn't been more then $20.

[katyj]

Yes, in this country only lawyers with nottary public qualifications which give them certain powers can notorize any documents. If I were to get an everyday lawyer to witness a permission letter it would only cost $10:rolleyes:

[JCSM-Mom]

Does she have a different last name than you and your husband?

 

We've traveled with my step-daughter and because we have the same last name we've never been questioned.

 

The passports we have for our children do not list the parents name, so I think the assumption is that all three children are 'ours'.

 

However, having said that. I would travel with whatever makes you feel the most comfortable.

[notentirelynormal]

Yes, in this country only lawyers with nottary public qualifications which give them certain powers can notorize any documents. If I were to get an everyday lawyer to witness a permission letter it would only cost $10:rolleyes:

 

Ooops, didn't notice where you were from. Bummer.