What Is Going to Happen With Your Child's Passport?

Hi, I'm Dave Ward with the Ward Law Firm. One of the questions that I frequently get when I'm dealing with a parent who has family outside the United States is what is going to happen with my child's passport? Can my spouse take the child out of the country without my permission? 

Well, in Georgia we have something called mutual restraining orders, and most counties have a provision in their mutual restraining orders that say that a parent is not permitted to remove any child from the jurisdiction of the court without first obtaining the court's permission. 

However, sometimes that's just not good enough when there is a real prospect of a parent taking their child out of the country. So one of the things that we can ask the court to do is order that the passports be turned in to one of the attorney's and the attorney will put in in their safe and hold on to it while the case is progressing. This helps to ensure that a difficult parent will not be able to remove a child from the country.

If you have any more questions about passports or anything else related to child custody, give us a call. I'm Dave Ward with the Ward Law Firm, and we help parents protect those things that are most important.