Woman's Ex Tried to Crash Her Vacation. But When He Got to the Airport His Passport Didn't Work and She Knows Why

Yahoo

04-06-2025

A woman detailed a recent travel incident that involved her ex-husband trying to crash an international trip she planned with their two kids
She explained that she and her ex had a messy divorce and that he owes her unpaid child support
Because he's behind on payments, she suspected his passport would be revoked, but she didn't tell him before he got to the airportA woman's ex-husband planned to follow her on vacation, but his trip was foiled after he ran into an issue with his passport. He didn't expect it — but she did.
The mom of two shared her story on Reddit's 'Am I The A—hole' forum, retelling how her ex tried to crash an international trip she had planned with their kids.
She claims she and her former husband had a messy divorce two years before the incident, alleging he 'began an affair" after the birth of their second child. She says he 'fought me every step and it took over a year to finalize.' While she gained primary custody of their kids, she notes that she still needs her ex's permission to bring them out of the country.
Recently, the original poster (OP) shares that she was planning to travel abroad to visit family with her 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. When she told her ex she wanted to go on the trip with their kids, she claims he said he always wanted to visit her family's country and was coincidentally planning to go at the same time as them.
'I was already anticipating this," she writes, "because following us is something he does EVERY time I take the kids on a trip." So she was ready with all the above-board documentation. "My lawyer drafted a document to be signed and notarized that I was being given permission to take our kids out of the country for the specific dates. She also included a clause that he has up until 72 hours prior to the day of travel to revoke his permission. He agreed.'
The day of the trip, she arrived at the airport with her kids while her former spouse got there 'much later" only to find out upon trying to check in for the flight that his passport was revoked.
While he was stunned by the news, the OP admits, she wasn't totally in the dark as to why that might have been the case.
Another result of the divorce, she writes, was that he was ordered to pay child support, which she claims he has 'never done.' She explains that she signed up for enforcement so she doesn't have to 'badger' him about it, but he's still 'so far behind' that enforcement has 'suspended just about everything they can,' the OP writes. 'They send notices to him when this happens, but I'm sure he doesn't open them,' she claims.
She later claims in an edit of the post that her ex can afford the payments, but chooses not to.
'Turns out his passport was revoked due to lack of [child support] payment. He was denied at check-in and there's no way he can get his passport reinstated without paying his arrears in full,' she writes.
Once he figured out that he wouldn't be able to crash the vacation, she says, "He said that since he can't go, he no longer gives me permission to take [the kids]." In response to which, the OP "Reminded him that we are past the 72 hrs for him to deny my travel request.'
'I don't think I'm the a------ for continuing our trip; but I am questioning whether I'm an a------ for not giving him a heads up that he should check his passport. I didn't know it was revoked for sure, but I suspected,' she writes.
In the comments, the majority of users jumped in to tell the mother she didn't do anything wrong.
'It is not your responsibility to keep track of his passport. He would have received official communication of some sort advising of the block on his passport. Disregarding his mail is 100% on him,' one user wrote.
Another added, 'Ex needs to put on his big boy pants and read his mail. You aren't his mom,' followed by a different user who echoed, 'Oh darn, the consequences of his actions are catching up to him. You're not his secretary.'
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According to the Office of Child Support Services, the U.S. State Department can revoke a passport if a parent owes $2,500 or more in past-due child support payments. It will send the parent a rejection notice in the mail when this happens.
If a parent owes $2,500 or more in child support payments, then they are also not eligible to apply for a passport either, according to the State Department's official website.
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