Nothing is more rewarding than watching your children explore the world. Having the privilege to travel with your children to other countries not only provides a hands-on education experience but also opens up a world of learning opportunities for your children. Safely and legally travel with your children internationally even when you are co-parenting.
How to Travel With Kids Abroad While Co-parenting
What if you or a co-parent want to move out of the United States or travel solo with your minor children? What protections are in place to ensure that your child will return to their home country? For this specific reason, the Hague Convention established the protection of children in respect to travel. This international agreement, with approximately 100 countries as signatories, is a crucial tool in ensuring the safety and return of your child in case of any unforeseen circumstances during international travel.
The Hague Child Abduction Convention (Hague Convention) is an agreement between approximately 70 countries in which they agree to honor another signatory country’s custody and visitation orders. The purpose of the Hague Convention is to help prevent child abduction from one country to another.
Countries that sign the Hague Convention have agreed to uphold and enforce another country’s custody and visitation orders. Because the Hague Convention provides some security that your children will return to their home country, courts generally allow travel to Hague Signatory countries.
California courts can be more cautious in granting permission for children to travel to non-Hague signatory countries because a US court order will not be enforceable once the children have been removed from a non-Hague country. Hundreds of children are abducted by a parent each year to another country. If your children travel to a non-Hague signatory country, returning them to the United States will be nearly impossible.
When planning an international vacation with your children, ensure the country you visit has signed the Hague Child Abduction Convention. Find the complete list of Hague Convention countries here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/International-Parental-Child-Abduction/abductions/hague-abduction-country-list.html.
Co-parenting Logistics for Travel with Children Internationally
When co-parenting your children, discuss all international travel you would like to take with your children well in advance of making definitive travel plans. If your co-parent seems nervous about the travel, you can obtain a travel bond, which will provide financial assistance in the event the non-traveling parent needs to bring the children back home.
Whenever a parent travels internationally with children without the other parent, it is important to provide a complete travel itinerary that includes flight information as well as departure and return date information. The flight information should include the flight numbers, dates, and times of the flights. The itinerary should further include the location of where the children will be staying. It is not enough to tell the other parent that the children will be in a specific city. Provide the name and address of the hotel or place where the children will be staying and include a telephone number where the children can be reached in the event of an emergency.
Establish trust with your co-parent
To have peaceful, fun vacations with your children, having a level of trust with the other parent is vital. If you want to travel internationally, show your co-parent that you are trustworthy by being open and courteous when discussing travel plans. Do not expect a co-parent to agree to all travel plans if you never agree to the co-parent’s travel plans. Keep your conversations child-centric. Keep in the forefront of your mind that a fun travel experience could be in the children’s best interest.
Even if you may not be able to afford an international vacation, if your co-parent can afford to take your children on international vacations, let your children have those experiences, and do not let your feelings of jealousy or anger towards the other parent get in the way of the opportunity for your children. Having both parents support travel plans is a great way to build trust in each other and also help your children.
Please contact us for a quick consultation if you need a family law attorney in California or Illinois.