I have a son aged 4, me and his mother have split for 3 years now, I attended the registration of birth for my son, my name is on the birth cert and he has my surname, he comes to stay with me every week, I've recently been getting a feeling that she might be planning to do a runner with my son to another country with her new partner who is malteese. I am not sure but I believe that my son has a passport but my signature was not on the application form, I've also heard on the grape vine that my ex is not aloud to leave the country for longer than 4 weeks without my consent, is this true? And if so what would I be able to do about it if she does allope? Thank you for your time in reading this question and I would very much appreciate it if you are able to give me some advice in this matter, Darren

I'm on the birth cert and attended registration of my sons birth, he has my surname, and a passport but I think my signature is not on the passport application form, I believe my ex is planning to do a runner with her new partner andmy boy to malta, she has never asked me for child support and when she was contacted by csa she said she didn't want to claim maintanance as I look after my son and have him stay so often, he stays with me on a weekly basis at present,

ANY question on law needs to include your general locale as laws vary by area.

I suspect you are in the UK (the use of the phrase surname). So I would immediately contact a solicitor and apply for joint custody. Until your custody of the child is formalized and you have visitation rights by court order she may be free to move.

I'm not sure of UK law, but in the US a child needs the permission of both parents to travel outside the country. Call the Foreign Office (or whatever appropriate agency) to check on the rules for where you are.

I've merged your two threads. Please don't ask the same or similar question multiple times. If you have any follow-up questions or info, please use the Answer options below to respond to this thread.