Passports and Children

Contrary to what you might think from talking to your friends and reading the news, most divorces have at least a basic level of civility, and both parents put the interests of the children, first.

However, if you are in one of those situations where there is no civility, there is no communication -- or worse, there is only hostile communication, and you have concerns about your spouse's/former spouse's intentions with regard to the children, you might be interested in this link.
Passports and children

The US State Department has established the Children's Passport Issuance Alert Program  (CPIAP).  This program allows a parent  (or both parents) to register children under the age of 18, in the Department's Passport Lookout System.  Completing, and submitting  this form results in the Department notifying you if a passport application has been submitted, or if a passport has been issued.

Note...  if a passport has already been issued, CPIAP does not prevent the passport from being used.  There is no way to track the use of a passport, once it has been issued, since there are no exit controls for people leaving the United States.  If your child already has a passport, and the other parent is not willing to agree that you can have sole possession of the passport, you should ask that either the court, or one of the attorneys, hold the passport.   It is always possible to request a duplicate passport, of course, except that now the CPIAP protection kicks in.