Parental Kidnapping

There are a number of things that an abduction prevention order can do, including:

• prohibiting the other parent from removing your child from school or from day care;
• prohibiting the other parent from approaching your child anywhere other than at a supervised visitation location;
• setting up travel restrictions that require the other parent to give you a travel itinerary, list of addresses and phone numbers to where your child will be staying, and copies of all travel documents, such as airline tickets;
• prohibiting the other parent from removing your child from the state or the country without first getting permission from the court or your written consent;
• requiring the other parent to register the abduction prevention order in another state before taking your child into that state;
• requiring the other parent to give your child’s passport to your attorney or the judge;
• prohibiting the other parent from applying for a new or replacement passport for your child;
• requiring you to put your child’s name into the State Department’s Passport Issuance Alert Program;
• at your request, requiring the other parent to get a custody order from a foreign country where your child might be taken to that has identical terms to the American order;
• limiting the other parent’s visitation or requiring that it be supervised until the judge thinks that there is no longer a threat of kidnapping; or
• creating any other restriction or requirement that the judge thinks will help decrease the risk of kidnapping.¹

Note: Remember that an abduction prevention order does not guarantee your child’s safety and should be used together with other safety measures. For help in creating a safety plan, you may want to talk to an advocate at a local domestic violence organization. Please see WY Advocates and Shelters to find one in your area.

¹ Wyo. Stat. § 20-8-108(c)