just a quick question??

The custodial parent lives in Massachusetts and the non-custodial parent lives in North Carolina. The non-custodial parent only sees his child once a year and talks to her only once a week if she is home. The non-custodial parent recently went up to Massachusetts to visit his daughter and noticed several things that he thinks borders on neglect. The child is 11 years old, and does not know how to wash herself, does not know to brush her hair or her teeth, doesn\'t know how to wipe herself when she goes to the bathroom, and has never seen an eye doctor or dentist or a gynocologist. Does this sound like child neglect or is he reading into it too much? Also the custodial parent wants to take the child out of the country and thinks she can get a passport without the fathers consent. They have joint custody of the minor child. Can she take the child without the fathers consent?

[tbyte]

Please clarify. How is he the "non-custodial" parent if they have joint custody?

they have joint custody but she has sole physical custody

[tbyte]

No.
That is not even possible in my State, and I doubt that it is in yours either.
You, or "they" need to reread the court documents closely and know exactly what the legal roles are.
They are either Custodial/Non-custodial, or they have shared parenting with one designated the primary residential parent.

it reads "the parties shall have joint custody with physical custody going to the mother"

As a Mass. resident with a child whose father lives out of state, we share joint legal custody and sole physical custody goes to me.

thank you for clarifying the custody matter of this post, honestly this post makes no sense to me whatsoever. Who is asking the question? With regards to the going out of the country part of the question, was the father in question going to say no to his ex? It wouldn't make sense if he did in my opinion.

[tbyte]

Originally Posted by Unregistered it reads "the parties shall have joint custody with physical custody going to the mother"

OK. I haven't seen that verbage before. Pretty goofy, if you ask me, but I guess you have to live with it.
Regardless, stop referring to the father as the "non-custodial" parent.
The following applies to your situation, where you are both custodial parents, to the best of my knowledge:
The primary custodial parent will need the other custodial parent's signature to get a passport for the child. Some countries may also required a signed statement from the other custodial parent granting permission for the children to leave the country between the dates of the excursion. This document may or may not be requested by the customs agent.
Without more substantial evidence of neglect and abuse, in my opinion the non-primary custodial parent does not have much chance of successfully pressing for a change in custody.

Thank you very much that helped alot

[huffamuse]

5 years ago my wife at the time and I were moving to Alaska with her daughter. When we got to the Canadian border they wouldn't let us go through because she did not have any documentation with her saying she had sole custody. It took us about 5 hours to get those documents, then they let us through. She will have to have some sort of documentation saying she is allowed to take the child out of the country. If she tries without your permission she can be charged with kidnapping.