Child Passport

[VJB9 0]

I have two kids from a previous marriage and one of the boys' passports expired. Currently, I have"full custody" of the boys. I put that in quotes as I believe WA state doesn't use the term custody but the divorce decree states I have for now full decision-making and their mom is severely restrained from the boys. Currently, she is to be supervised on her visits which are every other weekend, no overnights. The supervisor has been professional but doesn't have to be professional but we couldn't come to an agreement for anyone else. At some point, she is supposed to have joint decisions but she has never moved from the first phase of the parenting plan Also, a couple of weeks ago I was granted a DV protection order against her because of many DV acts she had committed against me and our boys. WA state has a broad definition of what DV is and the acts were not physical but other bad acts she was doing. My attorney explained to me that even if she moves into the next phase of the parenting plan, which has joint decision-making, the protection order would not allow her to have joint decisions. The parenting plan also calls out that I am to pay for their passports. Overall, our case is very complex and continues to get worse.

 

I wanted to get a new passport for my son since it has expired, but I don't want to do it without his mom knowing. She had and continues to do a lot of bad acts with our boys, such as coaching them in order to change custody, filing false CPS and police reports against me, etc. That doesn't matter for the passport. But she also is a huge flight risk. She is from Europe and her family all live there. She has said multiple times that she wishes she left with the boys when she could have, including in an interview with a detective last fall. And in a child forensic interview with our boys, once said that mommy was going to take them somewhere for up to a year until daddy thought they left the continent. I have no doubt she will run with them any chance she gets.

 

With all that said, do I need to still have her sign off on the passport? Or would DS-5525 be enough and explain this above? I had been assuming since I have all decision-making and now a DVPO against her which includes our boys that she would not be required.

 

Part of the issue with her is that we basically are on non-speaking terms. She is trying to have me arrested, constantly filing false police reports against me, so she overall I believe would be completely unwilling to help out here unless she plans on taking off with the boys. I also rather she not know that he has a new passport just because of this serious threat. At some point later in the parenting plan she would be allowed to take them overseas but for now, until her behavior changes, I want her to believe at least one of their passports is expired.

[SalishSea 17,828]

17 minutes ago, VJB9 said:

I have two kids from a previous marriage and one of the boys' passports expired. Currently, I have"full custody" of the boys. I put that in quotes as I believe WA state doesn't use the term custody but the divorce decree states I have for now full decision-making and their mom is severely restrained from the boys. Currently, she is to be supervised on her visits which are every other weekend, no overnights. The supervisor has been professional but doesn't have to be professional but we couldn't come to an agreement for anyone else. At some point, she is supposed to have joint decisions but she has never moved from the first phase of the parenting plan Also, a couple of weeks ago I was granted a DV protection order against her because of many DV acts she had committed against me and our boys. WA state has a broad definition of what DV is and the acts were not physical but other bad acts she was doing. My attorney explained to me that even if she moves into the next phase of the parenting plan, which has joint decision-making, the protection order would not allow her to have joint decisions. The parenting plan also calls out that I am to pay for their passports. Overall, our case is very complex and continues to get worse.

 

I wanted to get a new passport for my son since it has expired, but I don't want to do it without his mom knowing. She had and continues to do a lot of bad acts with our boys, such as coaching them in order to change custody, filing false CPS and police reports against me, etc. That doesn't matter for the passport. But she also is a huge flight risk. She is from Europe and her family all live there. She has said multiple times that she wishes she left with the boys when she could have, including in an interview with a detective last fall. And in a child forensic interview with our boys, once said that mommy was going to take them somewhere for up to a year until daddy thought they left the continent. I have no doubt she will run with them any chance she gets.

 

With all that said, do I need to still have her sign off on the passport? Or would DS-5525 be enough and explain this above? I had been assuming since I have all decision-making and now a DVPO against her which includes our boys that she would not be required.

 

Part of the issue with her is that we basically are on non-speaking terms. She is trying to have me arrested, constantly filing false police reports against me, so she overall I believe would be completely unwilling to help out here unless she plans on taking off with the boys. I also rather she not know that he has a new passport just because of this serious threat. At some point later in the parenting plan she would be allowed to take them overseas but for now, until her behavior changes, I want her to believe at least one of their passports is expired.

Yikes.  Potentially scary situation.

 

Do you have a divorce lawyer still?  I wonder what they would advise?

 

Whatever happens, I recommend keeping their passports in a bank lockbox, accessible only by you.

[Mike E 11,739]

1 hour ago, VJB9 said:

do I need to still have her sign off on the passport? Or would DS-5525 be enough and explain this above?

Hard to say. Give it a try.

 

I agree with @SalishSea . Getting new passport is high risk. If you are doing it for ID purposes, just get a passport card.

[VJB9 0]

It is a pretty bad situation, 3.5+ years of separation (divorce finalized last summer), and it just had progressively gotten worse. But I think for the most part the really horrific stuff and the non-stop dealing with police and CPS is over. Everyone (police, CPS, courts, etc.) has caught on to her but so far nothing stops her from still creating problems. You would think losing your kids, coming up 2 years since custody change, being found in contempt, etc. would stop but it is obvious in so many ways she is solely just out to get me.

 

I do have an attorney. My attorney sees it as I do which is at the very basic level, their mom has no parenting decisions and would not need to sign off. Then of course now including the protection order. But everyone interprets orders differently. An example is with their school. They allowed her to go to school on her non-parenting days, and fully knew some of her bad actions, essentially giving her extra parenting days. If they were in daycare she couldn't just go and spend time with them. My attorney says she isn't allowed to be there on her non-parenting days. With this new protection order, the school still is misinterpreting things but the end result is they now at least are not allowing her there on her non-parenting days. If she wasn't doing her bad actions I wouldn't care if she was there, but she isn't stopping.

 

Another thing to add is that she has multiple times withheld the boys for me. Once it was the final act before the court changed custody, physically snatching one of the boys while my then g/f, now wife, was watching him while he was home from school sick. She walked in and ran off with him while he was still in his PJs, not even socks or shoes. Last winter she was held in contempt for not returning them from one of her days, even keeping them out of school for several days. She only returned them while my attorney and I were in court, ex parte, with papers that included an arrest warrant. And several other times when she had custody and she wiped the boys up into frenzies not wanting to go with me.

 

Our son(s) not having valid passports would be a good way to delay any chance of her taking off with them. But two issues. While her parents really don't know much about all that has happened, they overall are very much against her and know she has physiological issues. I would like to take the boys myself to see them. I also have remarried, a woman from Colombia, and we do want to travel to Colombia whereas now we can't.

 

I was planning on submitting for a passport and seeing what happens. But was hoping if anyone knew for certain how it should pan out. I do plan on keeping the passports in a safety deposit box, but I could see her also somehow having passports reissued and sent to her, or something else. It is probably something difficult for her to do but she has tricked other agencies into approval for nearly impossible to get approval for. Like an issue with the IRS and our last joint filing, which was in our divorce trial, approved at trial, with no objections from her. We owed money that year and after trial, she filed for incident spouse relief and they approved it meaning she doesn't have to pay anything, I have to pay it all. I am appealing but it is a local family court issue if anything and was already at trial.

Edited September 18, 2023 by VJB9

[SalishSea 17,828]

1 hour ago, VJB9 said:

It is a pretty bad situation, 3.5+ years of separation (divorce finalized last summer), and it just had progressively gotten worse. But I think for the most part the really horrific stuff and the non-stop dealing with police and CPS is over. Everyone (police, CPS, courts, etc.) has caught on to her but so far nothing stops her from still creating problems. You would think losing your kids, coming up 2 years since custody change, being found in contempt, etc. would stop but it is obvious in so many ways she is solely just out to get me.

 

I do have an attorney. My attorney sees it as I do which is at the very basic level, their mom has no parenting decisions and would not need to sign off. Then of course now including the protection order. But everyone interprets orders differently. An example is with their school. They allowed her to go to school on her non-parenting days, and fully knew some of her bad actions, essentially giving her extra parenting days. If they were in daycare she couldn't just go and spend time with them. My attorney says she isn't allowed to be there on her non-parenting days. With this new protection order, the school still is misinterpreting things but the end result is they now at least are not allowing her there on her non-parenting days. If she wasn't doing her bad actions I wouldn't care if she was there, but she isn't stopping.

 

Another thing to add is that she has multiple times withheld the boys for me. Once it was the final act before the court changed custody, physically snatching one of the boys while my then g/f, now wife, was watching him while he was home from school sick. She walked in and ran off with him while he was still in his PJs, not even socks or shoes. Last winter she was held in contempt for not returning them from one of her days, even keeping them out of school for several days. She only returned them while my attorney and I were in court, ex parte, with papers that included an arrest warrant. And several other times when she had custody and she wiped the boys up into frenzies not wanting to go with me.

 

Our son(s) not having valid passports would be a good way to delay any chance of her taking off with them. But two issues. While her parents really don't know much about all that has happened, they overall are very much against her and know she has physiological issues. I would like to take the boys myself to see them. I also have remarried, a woman from Colombia, and we do want to travel to Colombia whereas now we can't.

 

I was planning on submitting for a passport and seeing what happens. But was hoping if anyone knew for certain how it should pan out. I do plan on keeping the passports in a safety deposit box, but I could see her also somehow having passports reissued and sent to her, or something else. It is probably something difficult for her to do but she has tricked other agencies into approval for nearly impossible to get approval for. Like an issue with the IRS and our last joint filing, which was in our divorce trial, approved at trial, with no objections from her. We owed money that year and after trial, she filed for incident spouse relief and they approved it meaning she doesn't have to pay anything, I have to pay it all. I am appealing but it is a local family court issue if anything and was already at trial.

I think it would be a shame to not get a passport renewal for your other child, and to miss out on a family vacation, etc.

 

I live in Washington state.   My divorce was amicable, and we did share custody and both travelled internationally many times separately with the kids.  
 

We would get a notarized consent letter from the other parent, just in case.  This was years ago, and maybe international parental abduction isn’t as much on the radar these days, but hopefully there is still some system in place to prevent a non-custodial parent from unauthorized travel with the kids?

 

I would also think that the US passport agency must have some way to prevent the reissue of a minor’s passport to a parent falsely reporting it as lost or stolen.

 

I can’t think of any VJ members to tag at the minute, but hopefully someone with direct and recent experience will come along.   Best luck to you.

[JeanneAdil 6,498]

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/under-16.html#:~:text=Complete court order granting you,you as the

 

Go  to the section which says SHOW PARENTAL CONSENT

and click it to read the following (but read the whole )

 

If...	Then...
You have sole legal authority	You must submit evidence of this with the application. Examples include: Complete court order granting you sole legal custody of the child, such as a divorce decree or other custody order Complete court order specifically permitting you to apply