Travelling with a teenager-family friend

[Oceansplasher]

Hi everyone.

We travel to Florida in October and amongst the group is a 17 year old who is a friend of the family,so obviously not a family member. He has normally been with his mum and is now going with us. Should I type a letter out saying something along the lines of his mother giving us permission to look after him and get her to sign it and carry it with us through customs on both sides?

I seem to remeber a post on this but I cant find it.

If anyone could DM me on how to word the letter or let me know on this post I would be very grateful, as we do not want any complications or allegations of human trafficking!!

It sounds silly i think, and he is 6ft 4" so we couldn't abduct him if we wanted to Ha Ha!! [msnsmile2]but am just thinking of covering every angle.

Thanks for any advice.

Stuart

[another]

DM sent [msnsmile]

[owen3]

Hi Stuart, we took our nephew to Florida in may, we got a letter of his mum giving us permission to take him.
Nobody asked to see the letter, but best to get a letter just in case you are asked.
Barbara

[steph_goodrum]

It's not just permission to take him you need to be aware of but permission to authorise any unexpected medical care if it should arise. With the best will in the world we can't prevent all illnesses and accidents happening and the medical teams may be reluctant to treat without parental permission.

[blott]

I think the thread you're looking for is here. http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/topic_45477.asp

The legal age of consent for medical tratment is 18 in Florida (it's 16 in the UK) so you do need the letter that covers both Immigration and medical treatment.

[glasgowmary]

we have taken our sons 2 friends on several occasions and have always had a letter permission to lave the county , medica treatment ( including blood and anaestheic )one of the boys who has a lawyer fried had the phrase " in loco parentis " and yes once we were asked for proof of pemission to take the boys out of the country just your luck as there times we were not.Best to be safe though...

[LiesaAnna]

we have just done this with our daughters friend last month, we took a letter with the home address and written saying 'to whom it may concern'
i give my authorisation to '............ ...... regarding any medical health/dental problems should they arise whilst on holiday with ..... ..... and dated and signed by childs mum, everything was fine till we got back to the UK we were questioned and asked if we had anything to say why we had child with a different surname to ours with us..... i was not happy!! i expected this all the way through to the USA, but no one questioned us...... i was told its all for 'child trafficing'..... and 'did i not understand the seriousness of it?'
always best to be safe..... luckily they accepted the letter we had and thankfully i remembered exactly where i had put it!!

[atush]

Dont forget to add them to the insurance policy. Have their parent nearby when you do to answer the pre-existing medical part.

[glasgowmary]

anytime we have gone the boys needed their own insurance as the policy didn't cover travel without their parent or on ours as they did not live at our address got their own single trip . might not be the same for you but worth checking..

[steph_goodrum]

We usually use Direct travel for our insurance, it allows for children to travel independantly of their parents for up to 21 day trips. Many won't cover the child unless they are going with the parents. It means if they are going on a school trip or with someone else they will still be covered.