Jill is planning to take a boat cruise with the children this March Break. She is fed up of the cold winter, she is exhausted with the separation process and feels that a good family vacation would do some good. Jack, however, does not feel the same way. Jill has so far refused to cover her fair share of the mortgage and if she does not have money for that, she shouldn’t spend thousands on a luxurious vacation south. Jill doesn’t know what to do. There is no way she can be in court before the scheduled trip and she is afraid that custom authorities will not let her through with the children if she does not have a consent letter signed by Jack… Or should she try anyway?
Traveling with children is always a challenge for parents, whether or not you are still together. If you travel with your children and the other parent is not part of the trip, you will need to get the other parent to sign a consent letter giving you permission to leave the country with the children. A consent letter is normally required by customs whether you have sole custody or joint custody of your children. It does not matter whether your custodial rights come from a separation agreement or a court order. If you do not want any surprises at customs, make sure you pack your passport, the children’s passports and an original consent letter in the prescribed form. The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada provides an example of a consent letter that you may use to create your own letter. For your convenience, you may access this consent letter directly from our FREE Toolbox (click here). However, it is advisable to have the consent letter notarized by a lawyer (or someone having authority to swear an oath such a doctor, legal assistant, city officials, etc.) to make sure that the validity of the other parent’s signature is not questioned by customs.
Most separation agreements provide that the other parent’s consent must be sought in advance, and that such consent cannot be unreasonably withheld. But what happens if your ex-spouse refuses to sign the consent letter? Unfortunately, this happens too often – but sometimes for very valid reasons (health or safety issues) but sometimes simply as a means to engage the other parent in conflict. If your ex-spouse refuses to sign a consent letter for no valid reason, you may have to bring the matter to court to obtain the court’s authorization to travel with the children outside of the country. If the court finds that your ex-spouse’s refusal was unreasonable, it can order your ex-spouse to pay for all of the legal fees you had to incur to obtain the court order.
This is of course an expensive – and extremely stressful – way to begin a vacation with your children. You may also need to book an extra week of vacation just to recuperate! To avoid these unfortunate situations and to keep having fun in the sun, make sure that your separation agreement or divorce order includes well-drafted and comprehensive travel provisions setting out clear expectations when traveling abroad with the children.
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