help traveling outside the country!!

[alize035700]

help i am a mother of a seven year old son whose biological father has been no part of his life since he was born, he was at the hospital when he was born but since then hasnt been there...two years after my son was born i married a man in the military he has raised my son since, we now have orders to leave overseas and we cant leave without a signature on the passport from his biological father which we have no idea where he is word of mouth is he is in and out of jail question is we have to find him in order to get him to sign the paper problem is if we do find him i know hes not gonna sign...what are the next steps and is there a way to leave without his permission since he's a deadbeat dad and if he is in jail will the judge put that into consideration? please help! seeking answers

 

[motheringa]

depending on which state you live in the biological fathers rights can be terminated without his consent since he has had nothing to do with the child for over one year. Not sure if you have time for a court hearing and everything but if you contact a lawyer they can probably get a court date within the same month and have his rights terminated especially if he is in and out of jail.

 

[WhirledPeas]

Dad being in jail is a sure way to know his signature will be required, since there's no trouble finding him in that case. You'd just drop off the paperwork and he'd sign it, or not.

If he has joint decision making and/or some legally set parenting time (even if he never takes it), he gets equal say. If you're the sole decision maker/custodial parent and he has no legal rights to visitation, your permission is all that's required.

You may be able to ask a judge for the permission letter if you can't find dad anywhere. Check with an attorney.

 

[alize035700]

we never went to court for visitation or anything the only thing is his name is on the birth certificate thats the only thing stopping us...does he still have say since theres nothing in writing? I have a daughter with my new husband as well and if my sons bio father doesnt sign those papers will the judge over rule so that our family doesnt get split up?

 

[ohiogranny]

In your state, if you have sole legal custody (since you probably do, being a single mom at the time, and no court orders saying dad has joint legal) you may not need dad's signature. Not sure what proof you could offer of that, but see what they say.

 

[alize035700]

on the passport web site theres a a form to fill out if the other parent is absent and i just fill that out explaining why the the other parent signature is not available and my statement is to be notorized and that gets turned into imigration and they decide if he gets a passport or not, any advice on how to go about explaining the sistuation so they'll understand?

 

[WhirledPeas]

You'll have to show the birth certificate when you apply for the passport, so I'm sure they'll ask about dad. I'll suggest telling them the truth - he's on the BC but never filed for custody/visitation and hasn't seen the child. If your city has a passport office, go down their with your forms and see what they say. At minimum, you'll find out from the source what you should do next, if anything. Good luck! Let us know how it works out.