mamabear7256

no cannot find a free lawyer. everyone wants money i haven't got and i keep getting the run around from people

Englishmum

Although the link below is written from a UK perspective, it has some very useful advice/tips:

http://www.expatwomen.com/expat-wome...macdougall.php

I suggest you take legal advice, but here is a sample agreement to allow an American child to travel overseas and perhaps you could print it off for reference:

http://www.lawdepot.com/contracts/child-travel-consent/

PS. Do you have a US passport yourself? It is in your best interest to have US citizenship if you have an American child.

PPS. Which State are you resident in?
(One thing you could try is to look under the listings for 'Catholic Charities'. You don't have to be a Catholic, they often can help refer people on limited income for free legal assistance).

JAJ

A local women's shelter should at least be able to give a referral to a competent attorney and/or source of low-cost legal advice.

Beccarose

I just wanted to say I am sorry you're going thru this. I realize you want to get out of there and back home as very soon as possible.
I don't have any advice on getting legal representation but I can say I've had to go thru something similar to you and have had to get agreement from my children's father for permission to take them out of the country (we have joint custody officially- although he has virtually had nothing to do with them for years now). I have the approval but have not yet sent in our papers yet so I can't say for certain that this approval will work, but judging from all the websites, all you need is a signed and notarized letter from the father stating you have his permission to take your child out of the country to live in the UK. A lawyer does not need to draw the letter up either, you can do that yourself, and since you live with him take him (the father) yourself to a notary to get it signed.
Regarding getting your child into the UK on a US passport, if at all possible it would be best if you had a UK passport or British Registration of birth abroad certificate. But that being said it's never been a problem to take my children into any other country on their US passports.
Best of luck to you. Personally, my first step in your situation would be securing a letter of approval from your child's father and at the same time you can get him to sign a letter in front of a notary stating that you have his permission to obtain a US passport for your child. Then work on getting that.

englishguygoinghome

Assuming you were born in the uk and therefore are not a citizen by descent yourself then you child is automatically British by descent. You don't need to register for that and can apply for a passport using any birth certificate which proves that you are the mother and also your passport and your birth certificate to prove that you are British and born in the UK.

penguinsix

Just as a general suggestion:

Get all this paperwork together before you talk to your ex. While he might be willing to let the child live with you overseas at this moment (when it's all sort of a hypothetical) when you confront him with the actual papers or say "ok, let's go to the passport office" then it might get a bit more realistic for him such that he says 'hey, wait a minute, I've changed my mind.'

When you do start this conversation and if he is willing to sign, you want to get his name down on paper pretty much right away and without hesitation.

If you are in a slightly larger town, you might want to see if the local university has a law school. Some of the law schools run clinics with their students, or work with local legal aid organizations to help provide no- to low-cost legal services as part of the training process.

If you are willing to share with us the state you live in, we can help you research some of the legal aid organizations nearby (you can also PM some of us if you'd prefer not to say in an open forum).

Englishmum

By the way....you may wish to clear your cookies/web browsing history if your soon to be ex decides to check what you have been doing online.....

Jerseygirl

I suggest you get the letter of sole legal custody/allowing you to remove the child from the US and live in the UK notorised by a qualified attorney. For a notary to be recognised for legal purposes in the UK he/she must be a qualified practising solicitor. For example....if you use a notary who works at the post office it may suffice as far as the UK is concerned.

Englishmum

In my town you can get documents notarised at the local public library (free of charge ). Also the motoring organisation AAA also has a notary in our local area.

Jerseygirl

Almost anyone in North America can become a notary...my daughter is a notary...this is not the case in the UK. AFAIK if you require documents for legal purposes the UK only recognises a notary who is a qualified practising solicitor. We went through this when purchasing property in the UK...we had to submit notarised documents. The original documents we had notarised were not acceptable and we had submit new documents notarised by a qualified practising attorney/solicitor.

ldollard

Sorry but per point one thats completely untrue, we got both our daughters passports a couple of years ago through the mail, i'm british she is american, i think only my wife had to be somewhere, i never had to turn up.

penguinsix

That list comes from the State Department website and is in response to the two-parent consent law that took effect in 2008 (or 2009?). You might have gotten your daughters before that perhaps.

If you got it after, I think if you re-read the list you will notice it is an 'or' list. Either both parents, or one with the form, or one with the custody. When you got your passport you probably filled out form DS3053 as part of the application process (which granted your consent to her appearing to get the passport without you).

If you are renewing a passport however I think it can all be done in the mail. If it is a first time you have to appear at someplace like a Post Office where they verify the pictures/IDs and then mail it to the passport office. The passports are then sent back to you in the mail.

mamabear7256

Thankyou.........I do even though he doesn't have access to my laptop and is password protected

Okuda

We just got both our daughters passports (3 and 1 years old) I'm English and my husband is American and we both HAD to be there in person to sign the forms in front of the woman at the post office with photographic ID. The only way 1 parent can be there is if you print off a form and get a notary to sign it (for example if 1 parent cannot get time from work to attend the appointment)

ldollard

i think i got theirs in 2008, so i guess the rules have changed.