Out of State Scout Trips and DIVORCE COURT?

[Liz 101]

I can't speak for all states, but at least here in Oregon it would be very unusual to have a no-out-of-state-travel clause in a custody agreement. It would only hold up if either both parents agreed to it or there was a reasonable question about one parent taking a kid and running.

 

I can't imagine any pair of parents agreeing to such a thing without something for exceptions; "Little Billy is not allowed to travel out of state without permission in writing from both parents" or "without 10 days written notification to the other parent" or something of that sort. This is the most likely context you would run into it with.

 

In the event that you run across such a clause pertaining to any of the boys in your unit, you definitely need to sit down and have a talk with the custodial parent and find out what the rules are. It would be your job to keep the parents informed with enough time to make arrangements like permission or written notification... beyond that, whether Little Billy actually gets permission or not is completely between the parents themselves.

 

If you want to take boys out of the country, on the other hand, that is more complicated. A child can no longer get a passport without notarized permission from both the custodial and the non-custodial parent. There are some exceptions to this rule, but they are usually harder to comply with than getting both parents to sign. Fortunately for me, this rule was not in effect when I got my boys their passports; I just had to bring my custody agreement that showed I had sole custody. Not that their father would object (in fact, I was able to get him to sign a note, just in case), but just that their father is so hard to find most of the time and impossible to talk into doing anything inconvenient -- such as go to a notary.

 

Now, while it's true that nobody besides the custodial parent can technically sign permission slips and such (in most cases, non-custodial parents can also sign most things), in practice other adults do this all the time. I've had schools, hospitals, and other people who know full well that my husband is not my kids' legal guardian still have him sign if I'm not available. My parents sign for my niece and nephew all the time. The only way it could fall apart is if someone were to contest it in court -- and that someone would probably have to be the custodial parent, not the non-custodial one. It's not a situation that's likely to happen.

 

-Liz