All about notarized letters for solo parent travelers
1. Who needs a notarized letter?
Answer: a parent who doesn’t have sole custody of their child who plans to travel internationally without their co-custodian.
If you don’t have sole custody of your child and you’re traveling internationally without the other custodian, it’s always recommended that you have a notarized letter proving that permission has been granted by that other custodian. Basically, it’s meant to safeguard against one parent running off with their kid(s) without the permission of the other parent.
While it might seem like just one more pain in the rear to do before traveling, it’s worth the hassle because you really don’t want to miss your flight if a grumpy person woke up on the wrong side of the bed and is demanding to be sure the child’s other guardian is aware of the travel before letting you onto a plane. It’s a minimal hassle to procure the letter vs. a maximum trip-disruption-event if you really need it and don’t have it.
2. What should the content of the letter be?
The letter should contain at least the following:
- The names of both custodians and the name of your kid(s) that will be traveling
- Duration of the permission. You get to select this amount of time — it could be short (like until the end of the trip), or longer (like a year if you think you may be traveling more frequently alone). “Indefinite” is also a possibility, but we have heard that sometimes border patrol doesn’t like “indefinite”, especially if it is from a long time ago, as situations can change. We normally do either a year, and call out specific trips if we know they are happening.
- Contact information of the custodian who is not traveling
- Places for signatures and dates
Samples and templates
And here is a TEMPLATE you can download and modify as you wish.
3. How do I find a notary? And what's the cost?
Ok, so once you’ve determined you need a notary, how do you go about finding one…
- Many banks have notaries…and they often notarize for free! Call your bank (or other banks near you!) and see if they offer that service.
- Go to google maps and search for “notary near me”. It works :). It may not get all of them, but it will definitely show you some.
- Local mailing/shipping stores (and the big ones like UPS stores) very often have a notary public, so you can always just call them and ask.
If you don’t find a notary for free at a bank (or elsewhere), it’s not unusual for the fee to be ~$10 for one or two documents. You can always call and ask; the notaries are very clear about their fees and it shouldn’t be an awkward question.
4. What to take when you go to your appointment?
It never hurts to ask the notary what identification or paperwork you need to bring. In our experience, bringing these have always worked well:
- Passports of both parents/guardians (a state-issued driver’s license should work too, but we just always take our passports since there’s never a doubt they’re accepted)
- The printed letter for the notary to sign
5. It's signed, what next?
When you get home, put the dang letter RIGHT IN THE PASSPORT OF THE PARENT WHO WILL BE TRAVELING. It’s so easy to misplace it or forget it. Of course, if you have a file-folder of important documents for travel that you know you won’t forget, go ahead and put it there – just be sure that you remember to take it AND that it’s accessible in your carryon when you’re traveling (don’t put it in your checked bag!).
Happy travels!
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