Traveling is a good and refreshing activity but after divorce, you may have to face some complications. The process of traveling, booking tickets, packing stuff, and heading towards the airport was the old story. After divorce, traveling can be tricky.
Why is tricky to travel with children after divorce:
The approval of both of the parents is needed before traveling. To avoid the situation where kids are forcefully taken to abroad by one of the parents, the laws of the United States make the process of traveling a little complicated.
There is no restriction on traveling, you can travel after divorce but there are some things you must know before traveling.
A guide to traveling along with your children after a divorce:
Make to parenting plan:
A parenting plan is a plan created by both of the parents with the help of attorneys and family friends keeping in mind the best interest of children. It can be a written, oral agreement, or a parenting plan given by the court. The things you should cover in a parenting plan include;
- Age of children
- Where they should live.
- Who will take care of them in the night and daytime
- The medical and educational needs of children.
- Division of expenses.
This agreement will help you when you want to travel. If you haven’t made a parenting plan yet, then go for it without wasting any other time. it will also help you resolve problems that can affect co-parenting.
Discuss with your ex-spouse:
Sometimes, sticking to the parenting plan can also be difficult. For example, Chris who filed the divorce in iowa says , if you have any urgent task on weekend you can simply talk to your spouse that you won’t be able to take care of children.
Similarly, if you have a plan of traveling along with your children, you must let your spouse know about your plans. Share every necessary detail with him or her like where you are going to stay, what you are packing for your children so that no issue of disagreement rises later.
Keep the necessary documents with you:
The most important part while traveling is to get your documents. You and your children must have valid passports before traveling. If your children don’t have valid passports then you have to take help from your ex-spouse. Kids over the age of 16 years can apply for the passport by themselves with the sign of one parent.
If you have doubt that your ex-spouse will take your children aboard then you can ask the court for help. The court will withdraw with the child’s passport.
After passport, you will also require visas for your children as you want to travel abroad. For this, you and your ex-spouse need to apply for it at the same time. You may need some other documents like a vaccinated certificate etc.
Provide necessary information to your ex-spouse before traveling:
If you keep your ex-spouse in dark about your travel planning then you may have to face court later. Keeping up your children and heading to the airport is very wrong. You have to provide every single piece of information about your traveling to your ex-partner. Share as much as traveling details copy you can share with him or her. By doing this, he will don’t worry about your safety and will not involve the court.
Make sure to provide this information to your ex as soon as possible so he or she can verify anything which is necessary.
Not everyone’s marriage ends peacefully. If your divorce was complicated, then to get permission of traveling along with your children, you have to the following details to the court:
- The dates and timings of your visit.
- How you are going to travel.
- Mention the names of the people who are going to travel along with you and your children. It’s important for your ex-wife or husband to know who will be around their children. You can travel only if your spouse agrees to travel with other people with you.
- Explain briefly about the activities you are going to do. Mention the exact names of the locations you have planned to visit.
- Share where you are going to stay during the whole trip for example hotel, or at your friend or family member’s home. Share the authentic address of it and also share the contact numbers of the place you have planned to live.
If nothing helps, Ne Exeat Bond can help you:
If your ex-wife or husband still not agrees after providing every detail of traveling then go for the option of Ne-Exeat Bond. Ne-Exeat Bond is the surety agreement that your spouse will follow all the terms of the separation settlement and kids custody agreement throughout the time period of traveling.
At the time of settlement of the parenting plan, you must add the section of traveling in it. It will help in this situation more than anything else.
Choose the right activities while traveling along with your kids:
Your ex-spouse can create a problem if you go the places which are not good for children for example clubs etc. Make sure that your trip is according to your child. It should be educational and disciplined. You should avoid doing things that are insufficient for your kids.
Conclusion:
These were some steps that can allow you to travel along with your children without any complications. You must write the criteria of traveling in your parenting plan by discussing it with your ex-spouse. It will help you from any issues which may arise later.
At last, as you know the pandemic is at its peak nowadays. You always need to make sure that the place you have planned to travel to is safe. Adults are almost got their covid vaccine but it’s not safe to travel along with children. You must go to the doctor and ask for their opinion before traveling. Follow the security measures throughout the trip. Also, keep a first aid box with you in case of any emergency. If something happened to the child during the trip, your ex-spouse will surely target you.
