My wife and I are taking our 16 year old granddaughter to England and France without her parents... with their consent, of course. What legal documents should we take in case of an emergency?
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9369 posts
Though they never needed it, my parents took a notarized statement from me authorizing them to obtain any necessary medical treatment for my kids (whichever one was with them at the time). In the case of a life-threatening emergency you won't be asked for it, but it could come in handy. The world has changed since my kids were young enough to have to deal with this, but you might also have a statement from her parents authorizing you to take her out of the country. This is mainly important when it is a young child who can't speak for themselves, but a 16-year-old would presumably be able to let someone know if she was being abducted.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
7898 posts
I am repeating my self from a previous post, but in case you do not see it....
Here is information from the US Customs website:
Basically you should have a notarized letter from the parents (both of them) indicating that you have their permission. I would even include a date range and a rough itinerary (countries to visit) just to make it very clear. Granting medical authorization would also be helpful.
It could get messy if it were the case that your grandaughter's biological parents are no longer together and especially if one was unavailable to consent...but sounds like that is not the case, and that is discussed in the link as well.
Posted by
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA
45 posts
EastbrookCottage:
See my reply to Dennis today in this forum. His question is the same as yours.