QLD Can Partner's Ex Renew Child's Passport Without Consent?

[for the child]

Hello

If there are no family court orders in place and the mother of the child would like to get a 5-year-old passport renewed, can she do it without the father's consent?

My partner doesn't want his daughter's passport renewed as he doesn't trust his ex. She sent him an email asking him to sign the renewal and he sent her back an email saying no he wasn't going to sign it and he didn't give permission for her to take his daughter out of the country.

She has now sent him an email through a solicitor saying that if he doesn't sign it then she will take him to family court and that he will have to pay for the legal fees as well...

Can she do this?

Thank you

 

[AllForHer]

Yes, she can.

Unless he has a valid reason for refusing to sign the passport renewal, like genuine fear the mother will permanently relocate abroad with the child and the evidence suggests same (like she has family abroad, support networks, is from another country of origin, etc), then the Court will order him to do all things necessary to renew the passport and may make an order for costs since it's really not something that should be in Court.

 

[for the child]

What if she has been offered jobs overseas before and is being very secretive as to why she wants it? She has a history of not telling the truth.

He is afraid that she will move overseas and take his daughter and won't tell him.

 

[for the child]

Are you a family law solicitor?

Thank you

 

[AllForHer]

There are provisions the father can seek in exchange for the passport renewal that would, by Court standards, be considered reasonable, such as a full itinerary of travel, contact information for when the children are abroad and restriction on travel to non-Hague countries.

The offers of jobs might be significant, but do you have proof? The secrecy, on the other hand, probably isn't as influential - lots of parents prefer to keep the details of their movements private from the other parent because it may lead to conflict.

The questions the Court would also ask is why that risk is only apparent now that the passport renewal is on the table. When the passports were valid before their expiration, did the father take any action to prevent travel abroad on the fear of permanent relocation abroad?

I'm not a practicing solicitor, just a final-year law student with lots of experience in family law. You won't find any solicitors on this forum willing to provide proper legal advice for free, unfortunately, but Legal Aid offers free consultations for family law matters, so would be worthwhile contacting them, too.

 

[for the child]

Thank you for your help.

They were together and always travelled as a family when the passport was valid. He has now found out about a lot of lies and secrecy that went on behind his back.

She is very sneaky and wouldn't tell him she would just go. She recently went to new Zealand by herself and he had his daughter. Now she wants it renewed and won't tell him why? She just says that we agreed to it but that was before they separated.

He just knows that she is up to something and he doesn't have the money to fight her.

What should he do?

 

[AllForHer]

Write back to the solicitor and advise that you will consent to the passport conditional on a written and signed agreement that in the event the mother intends to travel abroad with the children, she will provide 28 days notice and an itinerary and contact information for the full duration of the travel period, as well as agreement that the parents not travel to a non-Hague country.

If this is refused, the alternative is to simply refuse consent and let them take you to Court, but be wise about doing this. If your case for denying the passport isn't strong, then you are risking a costs order against you. I would get legal advice, in any case.

 

[sammy01]

Yep, make sure you get stamped consent orders that stipulate where the child lives... That will ensure that she can't move overseas... BTW, how much time does dad spend with the kid? If he only sees the kid a few times a year, then moving overseas might not impact on his access.