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I current have a court order that allows me to travel for up to a month without consent. I have not been in contact with the other parent for over five years. Our child gets occasional phone calls but they last less than 30 seconds. We had a trip planned within our timeframe but the airlines made changes putting us over by three day. What kind of documents do we need so we can travel? Is this something I can do myself? Do we have to tell the other parent about the whole month or can we just get them to sign for the 3 days that go over the court order?
03 months ago
Dawn Nelson - Dawn L. Nelson, Barrister & Solicitor (Edmonton) Verified Lawyer
This is the type of question that would benefit from a private meeting with a lawyer to discuss the specific details of your case because there is no one "right" answer that would apply to everyone. You may want to contact the lawyer who obtained the order for you to understand the nuances of the evidence that convinced a judge to grant it.
The overarching law is The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Airlines and border protection agencies implement their own policies to prevent being complicit in child abduction, and these policies are not consistent. When traveling with a child a parent needs to know if the destination country is a signatory to the Hague Convention, what their border services require, and what the individual airline (or other commercial carrier) requires for boarding. A court order from Alberta may be helpful, but may not be enough to override another country's rules.
13 months ago
Anne McVea - Reliance Legal Group LLP (Calgary) Verified Lawyer
You don't say if your travel is inside or outside Canada. I agree with the above poster but perhaps you can simply get written permission from the other parent (like a Travel Consent Letter preferably notarized) to travel the extra 3 days. Often, parents will cooperate when they see that something benefits the child such as travel. Such consent letters can be found on the Canada Border Agency website and list the exact dates of travel as part of the consent or lawyers draw up such letters. You should offer to pay for any costs of notarization. Without that, you are in breech of a Court Order and that is never a good thing if a Customs Officer is asking.
13 months ago
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