International custody laws, moving to Australia from Arizona?

Question

I was wondering what sort of 'red tape' I'd have to get through to move myself and my two children to Australia. Their father and I were never married, I think by Arizona law I have sole custody (correct me if I'm wrong), he's on their birth certificates, he (we) only lived with our first born for 5.5 months, never with our youngest -- I've always been the primary caregiver. He rarely sees them, though he does have some interest. We have no legal agreements (though he's been threatening me with "something"). At the time of the move, they will be about 5.5 years and 6.5 years old. He is the type of person to try and make it impossible for me to do this. What chance does he stand? What might I have to go through to make this work? I can think of plenty of reasons why Australia would be beneficial: Safer, lower cost of living, high quality of living, friendlier people, good school systems, low unemployment rates, less crowding, plus more! Thanks so much!

Thanks so much! Just one question though, would it be considered abandonment since I was the one to leave the relationship? Plus, he does show interest in seeing our children. Would it still work then? He just doesnt try to see them on his own. What I mean is, he doesn't take the initiative to make plans, come over, or agree to meet somewhere. He just kinda expects me to bring them to him (we live about 50 miles apart and I'm usually pretty busy, so it's not possible to bring them when he wants). Just for the record, I have no problem with him seeing them, but he needs to put in a little more effort on his part. Oh yeah, and something I forgot to add in the original posting is that he rarely gives me any financial support for them. When he does it's not very much.

Answer 1

Make an affidavit and have it notarized that you are the only custodian of your children and their father had already abandoned you as a family. Bring documents showing that you are a single mother.

Answer 2

Your going to have trouble way before you go, as just to get the children under the age of 14 a passport requires the father and mother to sign and show picture identification. So you should try to talk with the father and maybe he will let you take your boys and if he says no, then explain to him that you'll need to seek an attorney and take him to court to get child support to be able to stay or he can sign an affidavit allowing you to take the boys abroad and sign for their passports. I wish you the best