Passports

[cymru001]

A friend of mine has a daughter with her own passport but her ex husband has it and refuses to hand it over. Can he withhold the passport even though the daughter lives with the mother?

[NORMANTHEDOG]

just apply for a new one,which will make the old one no good.

[cymru001]

Could that be done even though the existing is still current? She has thought about saying it was lost, but doesn't want to risk getting into trouble

[kempie]

Replace the term "withhold" with "commit theft of".

The passport is not the property of the father (it actually remains the property of The Crown) - he therefore has no right to retain it and to do so is theft.

Either report the theft to the police in order to obtain a crime number for the LS01 lost or stolen declaration form or complete the section "Other" with details of the illegal retention (this may prompt the IPS to investigate further - identity theft being such a hot topic). The LS01 accompanies the application for a replacement passport.

http://www.ips.gov.uk/passport/lost.asp

[Trotbot]

It can take a long time to get a replacement one - the Passport Office will ask a lot of questions about the circumstances, to make sure the old one is not being used fraudulently.

Is he refusing to hand it over as part of a dispute whether the daughter can travel abroad with the mother, or because he is a prat? Could make a difference to how the Police would proceed