Parental Consent Form Templates

You may need a parental consent form from time to time, because
you simply cannot be with your child 24/7.

There are a number of forms that can be used to cater for situations when one or both parents or legal guardians are not present or available.

On this page we provide a brief summary of the templates we have and their various uses. The links will take you to pages with a lot more information and legal guidelines.

Please Note: All consent forms must be signed by everyone who has legal custody.

Our infographic below covers 3 of our forms and will show you at a glance:

• WHEN you would need a consent form
• WHO needs it and whether it's required by law
• WHY the need for it
• WHICH form and which supporting documents are required

Or skip down to a list of all our free consent form templates.

Links to the Free Parental Consent Form Templates:

Temporary Guardianship

Affidavit of Guardianship

Child Travel Consent Form

Child Medical Consent Form

Last Will and Testament specifically for parents with minor children with guidelines on how to appoint a guardian in family wills.

Power of Attorney for Children - We also show you the difference between a power of attorney vs guardianship.

Consent to Apply for a Marriage License - Applicable for Minors

There are a few more points to consider when compiling your parental consent forms as we discuss briefly below.

Temporary Guardianship

This document offers somewhat of an umbrella authorization to someone to act on behalf of parents who are not present or not available in an emergency situation and it is typically for a short period of time.

However, there are also special circumstances where parents cannot take care of their children for a variety of reasons:

• Financial difficulty
• Undergoing medical treatment
• Military service
• Imprisonment, etc.

Parents would want to assign a trusted person (rather than let the state decide) to temporarily take care of their children as a guardian OR you may want to use a Power of Attorney for children.

This must be a person who meets the legal requirements and who can fulfill the duties and responsibilities of Legal Guardianship or Attorney-in-Fact.

Parents should specify the time period, rather than leave it open-ended. Upon expiry another document can be executed if needed.

This is where you definitely need to consult with a lawyer because the duration of guardianship is not the same in all jurisdictions!

You would be strongly advised to keep regular contact with your children wherever possible e.g. visiting, writing letters, phoning, sending money etc.

Not only is this important for the child's well being, it's also testament to the parent's commitment and the temporary nature of the guardianship.

Child Travel Consent Form

Do your homework beforehand! Contact the embassy or consulate of all the countries to be visited to ascertain which documents you need for your specific circumstance.

It is safer to carry all the documentation referenced here (and any other you may think applicable) even if it is not listed as a requirement by a specific country.

It happens quite often that a particular official may not have all the facts straight, which can be troublesome.

It is unfortunately a fact that there has been an increase in Parental Child Abduction.

Therefore the requirement to have a travel consent form should not be seen as an unnecessary hassle! If that's what it takes to help keep children safe from being illegally whisked across borders (either by child traffickers or non-custodial parents) then this extra meassure should be embraced.

Follow this link to check the travel requirements for various countries.

Child Medical Consent Form

An excellent reference for day care providers or child minders, you can add information on first aid treatment such as bee stings, aches, minor burns and scrapes and specify the medication you have available.

In an emergency situation it could be vital for medical personnel to know if your child has an allergy, is a haemophiliac or diabetic, the blood group, using chronic medication etc.

Last Will and Testament

This is the only way for you to appoint your person of choice as legal guardian for your minor children in the event of your death.

If you don't have a will in place, the court will have to make that decision on your behalf.

Power of Attorney for Children

We provide legal guidelines on how to draft your document so you can give as broad or as limited power of attorney as you choose to your appointed Attorney-in-Fact.

And we provide a free power of attorney form and revocation template.

All our printable parental consent form templates can be used as is or simply select the text, then copy and paste into your word program where you can edit them to suit your requirements.

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