OBTAINING A PASSPORT FOR YOUR CHILD WHEN THE OTHER PARENT WILL NOT CONSENT
A common problem in my divorce practice arises when one parent wants to take his or her child on a trip which requires a U.S. passport, but the other parent refuses to help obtain a passport for the child. Currently, children under age 16 cannot generally obtain a passport without the consent and assistance of both parents. This is the case regardless of whether one parent has sole legal or residential custody of the child.
Here are some of the ways to deal with the problem of the uncooperative parent:
1. Include the consent in advance in a written agreement. Almost every divorce of custody case is eventually resolved by a written stipulation of settlement, and those settlements are acknowledged before a Notary Public and ‘so ordered’ by a judge. A little planning and forethought by your attorney can easily resolve the issue of the other parent’s consent. Whenever possible, you should include in your agreement a specific clause for the other parent to consent to the issuing of a passport for the child. The timing of the trip and the details of the travel can be negotiated later, but the issuance of the passport should be agreed to in advance by both parents.
2. Form DS-3053: This is the State Department’s Consent/special Circumstances form. Here is a link to the form you can download and use. I recently called the State Department to ask how they determined whether special circumstances existed, and was actually told: we decide on a case by case basis. How a parent can plan travel with that kind of uncertainty is just beyond me.
3. “So Ordered” agreements and the Further Documents Clause: If the agreement or order does not specifically include a passport consent and using DS-3053 is something that is not effective or unavailing for any number of reasons, you can always bring an application in Court to compel the other parent to consent or to punish him or her for contempt; assuming the agreement at issue allows visitation or parenting time without geographical restrictions and has a ‘further documents’ clause. I have successfully used this technique on several cases, and the other parent often appears completely caught off guard when faced with the facts of his or her agreement.
If you would like more information about securing passport consent or other divorce law issues,
please contact me through my website at www.GabayLawFirm.com
