This thread raises issues that most of us were only vaguely aware of if at all, but there's a real can of worms out there with great 'coming a cropper' potential.

Perhaps Admin would make an approach to Ros asking her to consider giving some guidance in her 'Safe and Sound' booklet, please?

After two pages of comments on this thread, we are pretty much still in the dark as what affected persons should do.

Peter

My son has a different surname to me and was on my passport ,

If I remember right....you needed permission from other parent to have child on your passport...so fact child on it meant permission given.

I had my step son on my passport who didnt have my husband name and therefore also had a different name to mine...who though he stayed with us whenever not in school, didnt even officially live with us ....and my husband had never even been married to his mother....he only had parental responsibility.

My husband couldnt come with us so I was taking children on my own...and I felt it was unfair to leave him out...it was the first family holiday abroad....specially chosen to suit the children....going euro disney then on to Salou in Spain.....so when I applied for my passport he was put on after production of marriage cert , husbands proof of parental responsibilty, and letter of permission from his mother.

I also had another step son who had husbands name ...so same as mine....who lived permanantely with us....and my natural son ...who because I had remarried had a different name to mine...they were both on my passport as well.

I also took with me my natural son who being 15 had his own passport...thought it wasnt worth putting him on mine only to need to get him his own in a few yrs time....he had taken my new married name and for officcial reasons had it double barreled with name on his birth cert.

My step son who has same name to mine was the youngest....he had a little friend ...who was the child of a close friend of mine who also happened to live next door to me ....they were inseperable ...so her mum got her a passport and I took her too.

The only one I took a letter for was my friends little girl....giving me permission to take her ....and also giving me permission to act in parentus locco ....signed by both parents.

The fact the others were on my passport meant permissions already given....and eldest of an age to answer for himself.....but shudder to think of the hassel I would have these days trying to do same thing

I took my son on holiday with me last year, I had to renew our passports before we left and was never asked for any information regarding his father, even though my surname and my son's are different. Neither was I asked about it when we were away.

I was looking for a holiday for this year for me and my son, but following this thread i don't know what i should do as myself and my ex did not have an amicable split.

hi sazmo30....the rules here are a parent with parental responsibility can take a child abroad for up to 28 days without the other parents permission.....the mother has automatic parental responsibility unless taken away from her by a court.....a father who was married to the mother also has automatic parental responsibility unless taken away by a court....a father who was not married to the mother has either to have been present when childs birth was registered and have his name entered as the father in the register and on birth certificate ......or have applied to the courts and been granted parental responsibility...

it seems that certain other countries are asking for proof of permission to take a child abroad before they let you through passport control.....could be due to the problems they have experienced in the past when fathers have taken children back to there own countries without permission from the mother....and visa versa.....tweetie

ps...forgot to say....if you have custody of son but would encounter problems getting letter of permission .....I would take a copy of the papers stating you have custody incase you get stoped