New York Child Custody and Visitation Agreements – Think About Traveling with Children

Rincker Law Family/Matrimonial Law 1 Comment

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The Courts have found travel to be in the best interest of the child. Consequently, a parent should not unreasonably withhold consent for the child to travel with the other parent. If the non-traveling parent unreasonably withholds consent then the court can override the non-traveling parent’s objection to the travel.  See Matter of Arroyo v. Agosta, 2010 NY Slip Op 08566, 78 AD3d 938 (2nd Dep’t 2010).

Common language in a parenting plan requires advance notice of travel, the exchange of travel itineraries, including flight information, and contact information at the travel site such as hotel name and phone number. The more stringent agreements require proof of return airline tickets.

The parents need to decide when the travel requirements apply. Is notice of the travel itinerary necessary for international travel only? Or is the itinerary also necessary for national travel within the United States?

The parents also need a system for obtaining travel consent letters, requesting the child’s passport for travel and redefining the manner and frequency of communications with the child. For national travel, it is still easy to make a phone call. For international travel, the parents may need to postpone daily phone calls and agree to Skype every other day.

This is an excerpt from my new book “Onward and Upward:  Guide for Getting Through New York Divorce & Family Law Issues” available on Amazon, Kindle and iBooks. This is an except from the chapter I wrote with the talented Bonnie Mohr.  I also wrote the Chapter on Mediation, which also discusses mediation on disputes like this.  Not only am I a family law litigator, but I am also a trained mediator for divorce, child custody and visitation disputes, and commercial mediation. The book is chalk full of great advice on a myriad of family law issues ranging from prenups, child custody disputes, and divorce/annulments.  The book’s special sauce is that it has over 48 authors, including many nonlawyer authors, writing on both legal and nonlegal topics.  More info on the book can be found here.

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Comments 1

  1. In New York State, do non-married couples need permission to take their 2 year old on a week’s long cruise. They are not together. The two year old lives with the Mother!

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