A couple of years ago we took one of Gav's mates onholiday with us. it was a last minute spurr of the moment job when daughter fell out with Dad, moved out and announced she was not cmoming on AI holiday to Gran can. So we called bluff and said to son..ask one of your mates for a free holiday..they will just need spending money. ( 4 weeks before we went). he did..but with 2 weeks to go..we found he did not have passport as he was subject of a court battle between mum and dad which dad had won and was not allowed out the country without special permission from said court. We had already paid £50 transfer of booking fee coz it was short notice..so they went to Peterborough and got passport with 3 days to sapre after court ruled in dad's favour.
We were doing fine until said boy wanted to try scuba diving and signed a form to say he didn't have any probs whatsoever. i had a heart attack as he has severe asthma and they wanted me to sign his form as he had told them I was his mum!

Glad it all went well . We have taken my sons girlfriend to turkey with us the last couple of years . Although she was 16 the first time I did get her mum to sign a letter of authority for her and make sure she took out decent travel insurance for her seperately. As Val says when they are doing lots of activities where you are signing a waiver it can get a bit hairy , especially with water sports and the likes of scuba diving . You should be very careful. The A/I hotel we stayed at this year included free watersports . The teenagers would line up at the end of the pier and sign the waiver themselves often as a parent . Of course they never bothered to read the small print at the bottom . Our boys all scuba dive but hubby has always been reluctant to be responsible for anyone elses child . I cant blame him .

As parents we decide any acceptable risks we take for our own children but of course it's an entirely different ball game when it's somebody elses child.

lyn

Hi....Ive taken my sons friends and neices and nephews abroad...never had any problems...always took consent letter and checked insurance ect...only ever heard of one incident where there was a problem...father taking 3 yr old son on holiday with his family and girlfriend...never married to sons mother...had letter ect...but officials not satisfied...mother included her phone number in letter of consent...they phoned her and asked her for her passport number and asked questions ....was sorted out and all was fine...possible reasons for extra checks were...child could not answer for himself...had different surname to everyone else in party going....

I'm amazed by this thread - my son, then 11, went on holiday with his best friend's family a couple of years ago and we didn't have to provide any kind of letter of consent or anything. In June this year, we took my daughter's friend (then 17) with us to Turkey, and again, we didn't have any letter of consent or anything. We didn't have any problems whatsoever, but maybe we were just lucky. In both cases, the flights, accommodation etc, was all booked independently, but at no stage did anyone advise us we needed anything like that.

I'm taking my daughter and her best friend to Fuerteventura next Easter, they are both 16 and both have their own passports etc. I hadn't really considered any problems with insurance, I just bought a policy for all three of us.
I've always taken my own children on holiday on my own as a single parent. They have a different surname to mine and it's never been a problem. This time it'll just be myself, daughter and friend and all three of us have different surnames. No questions were asked at the time I booked the holiday or the insurance.
With both girls being old enough to speak for themselves (and they do - loudly and often...) I should imagine everything will be OK. For my own peace of mind though, I will ask friend's mum for a letter of consent with contact numbers etc, although friend's mum has a different surname again...

as he was subject of a court battle between mum and dad

Justval raises a very important point here. Where children are subject to "a joint custody order" then you cannot even take them to Scotland as the law is different there. Only needs one parent to be difficult. That is the reason for a letter of authority "from both parties" It is also for your own protection should anything go wrong.

Insurance is another problem. It is important that you know of any medical history - insurers are notorious for finding reasons not to pay. It is better to ask the parent of the child to sort that out. Again protect yourself.

fwh

I'm amazed by this thread

Why? there is no reason to be, many people do not realise that when acting in locum parentis you need authorisation from the guardian of a minor to travel , another that many don't think of is that a child is anyone under 18 [married or single].

these rules/guidelines are to protect both you and the child, you may never be asked but, as you can see from previous post its better to be prepared

wiz

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not criticising anyone - I meant I was amazed from my own point of view. As I said, I've been on both sides - taking someone's else child on holiday and my own child holidaying with someone else, and never realised it would be necessary to have such authorisation, or was ever advised that it shoudl be. Obviously, with hindsight, and reading this thread, it's obvious that it's a safeguard you should have, and it's certainly something I would do if such a situation arises again. That's why forums like this are such a valuable source of information.

You were lucky. Whilst you can just do what you like you don't find out the problems until something goes wrong. The person in charge of your kids may end up having to make life or death decisions about them, they may not have all the info they need to do this. They may have to decide what activities the kids can do, how can they make good decisions without the knowledge of kids ailities and health.

I would bet that insirance companies would be loath to pay out if they could possibly lay the balme at the adults on the trip.

And while it's hard to be sure of the scale of the problem, let's not forget that kids are trafficked in and out of this country or snatched by disaffected parents. What is in the end a relatively minor inconvenience for most of us could make a major difference to someone's else's child's future. Or whether they even have one. Even if it makes one child safer, then this sort of increased scrutiny is surely worth it?

SM

When we took Gav's friend, nobody batted an eyelid that the name on his passport was different to everyone else's...no-one at all. In fact, on the plane, the staff presumed ( as did everyone else) that they were both our sons and we got several compliments on their good behaviour. Very pleasing I might add as they were both little terrors when they were together at school..in fact them pair plus a 3rd mate were known as the 3 Musketeers at primary school as they were responsible in some way shape or form for every bit of mischief that ever went on..but i digress.

getting back to the point..we had no idea that J was still part of a court battle between mum and dad..and since no-one batted an eyelid that he was not part of our family but with us..we could have been smuggling him out of the country for his mother. I guess scrutiny of children has got a little tighter since madeline McCann disappeared..and rightly so.

In the event, nothing went wrong on our holiday but if it had neither me or Rob would probably have had a leg to stand on. As J comes from a far more disadvantaged background than Gav and had never even had a proper holiday before in his life..we wanted him to experience as much as he possibly could..so whatever he wanted to try..I let him do. I was responsible for him of course..but I never had anything signed by his Dad or his Gran..or any court papers for that matter to say that I was temporary his guardian or whatever.

On hindsight..I am not so sure i would have done it again ( especially as about 2 years later the little toad got caught trying to burgle our house while we were away..but again..that is another story).

the only time we had any questions really, was at doncaster airport, we checked in, and as we went through passport control, he told us to look at the camera and not too smile....all 4 of us had to do this.....but we didnt have to do it in july....

we are taking the friend again this summer, and i will do all the same, but most important is the letter of consent, it the person you are looking after had an accident/became ill etc.....you would need permission to act as the decision maker....also to cover yourself incase the parents disagreed...

Just as an aside the consent forms that our schools now use for trips include a sentence that says 'I understand that my child must obey the directions of the teaches in charge of the trip at all times and have explained this to him/her' The parent then ticks the box to say this has been done and signs. Thus should a child then disobey a direct instruction such as 'don't cross that road', don't paddle in that river' etc and get hurt the teachers cannot be blamed. I would expect that the age of the children would be considered if such an even happens but at secondary age it seems to work.

Hi, just wanted to add that you may need to take the child's birth certificate as well. Hubby and myself took our baby Grandson { who has a different Surname to us} to Turkey in September of this year for a week, I emailed the FO and was told I needed a full and detailed letter of consent {including both mum and dads pasport numbers} and the childs original Birth Certificate ? though I am not sure why Anyway, we took the letter and the Birth Certificate ect with us and had no problems at all apart from we too all had to have our pics taken at Doncaster Airport.

chazy

hi all need an update.....taking son and his friend to Salou in spain for 3 nights for my sons 16th....his friend will be 15 the day we go but has his 16th birthday too while we are away.......flying ryanair from Lpool.....

What is the routines now regarding taking someone elses child abroad to spain....his parents are divorced ...so know I will need consent letters from both parents.....are there any standard letters of consent where you fill in details and sign on the internet we can use.....are there any new rules ect....has it become stricter or more awkward.....last time I took one of my sons friends to spain was in sept 2008 by coach....so would appreciate an update....tweetie

I've been away with family friends and a family friend has been away with us, both under 16. We've never taken any letters of consent from anybody and have never had any problems at any airports.

Though I suppose with the increased security, it would be advisable to get a letter from his main guardian. It should state that you (your name) will be taking full responsibility for him during the trip and that he will be in your care, with singnatures from both you and his main guardian.

That aside, I think if you're within the EU, checks won't be as stringent as those if you were flying international.

Have a fab time!

'Ignorance is no defence' might be the watchword here. It would ruin EVERYONE's holiday if lack of documentation prevented you from leaving the country.

Why not formally accept the responsibility for someone else's child before leaving the UK by getting the parents to write a letter explaining the situation .... because you as lead name and as a adult (over 18) will be or should be responsible for all the minors in your party. After all what if one of them needed hospital treatment and you had to wait until the parents in the UK had been contacted for consent ... say for setting a broken limb .. We all want what's best for the child. And that means facing up to our responsibilities as adults including getting the necessary paperwork before we travel. After all, you wouldn't think of leaving the UK without having the other person's child's passport in your possession .. would you?

my advice would be to always take a letter of consent from 1 parent.

we have taken my daughters friend several times, and only once been asked for a letter of consent at a uk airport.

it just stated that i was given full permission to make any decisions, medical or otherwise, and was in sole charge.

it stated the mum's address, name, telephone number, passport number and national insurance number.

it also had on the friend's name, address, date of birth, passport number ect

incase of any medical problems, the letter would be needed, or it would be a case of the child's parent/s flying out to make the decisions

i cant stress how important that letter could be.

it also safe guards you from looking like you are pinching someone elses child

TWEETIE PIE

sorry been away for a few days.... letter of consent [devoiced/separated parents] if one parent has been granted sole custody in theory you only need a letter from that person, if joint custody/no formal arrangement then both signatures needed

reminder to all under UK law a child is deemed to be anyone under 18 yrs old

Sephs

this has been the law for many years, yes you may never be asked, but are you willing to upset a child who is refused boarding or loose all your flights & possibly holiday? if the child is injured and you do not have locum parentis how will you feel waiting in a hospital unable to give consent for the necessary treatment

Is it worth the risk..... thats your choice mine is better safe than sorry

brian