Personally I don't think my DH would care. He was so burnt out from court during his divorce and SD is PASed so there isn't much he would prosecute unless BM was endangering SD. Other than that he sees court as a waste of money.

But I do think if you did it would stand a good chance that BM would be punished for it. Def consult with a lawyer to see what the potential charge and consequence could be before diving in. What she did is a felony.

This was wrong... of course.  But, would your DH have withheld his consent if he had been asked?  Do you believe there is a risk she will abduct the children and take them out of the country?  Do you believe she will take them to travel places he would object to? 

If the answers are generally "no".. I'm not sure what is accomplished other than a slap on the wrist.. not sure what you would expect to happen.. does she owe him compensation.. does he want her in jail? what outcome would he hope to achieve?

I guess that it ultimately the bottom line.  What does he want to happen.. what is he hoping would happen?

If it's just to rub her nose in the dirt.. meh.. it is likely a lot of drama that will end up being wholly unsatisfying and just make everyone's lives.. including your own more miserable.  I would pass.

Maybe a consultation with an attorney can give him better insight to whether or not this issue is even worth pursuing.  Given she hasn’t run off with the kids I would think the courts won’t care and won’t do anything going forward. 

Countless HCBMs on this board have committed various misdemeanors and felonies, and nothing ever happens to them.  The govt is swamped with fraud on every level, and since nothing "bad" happened here, they won't be interested.

If BM kidnapped the skids and if they decided to prosecute that, they'd stack this charge on the pile.  Assuming they'd even care about a kidnapping, since she's THE MOTHER.

If they've had it for five years they aren't exactly planning an out of country kidnapping. Would he have otherwise consented or signed it? Or not? 

How do you know she forged it? I know both parents supposedly have to sign, but no one ever asked for my ex's signature when I applied for DD's passport.

She could have said there is no dad in the picture. they don't always ask  

Does BM have sole custody? If you have sole custody of your child, you do not need consent from their other parent in order to get them a passport. 

BM's forge docs, lie about wages, LIE to the IRS, lie about paternity, lie about day care costs N caregivers, list multiple false addresses, lie about where kids really are, Lie to police, lie to Judges, lie to therapist's, lie to schools about free meals,  lie to Social Services for free GVT services, ...the list is never ending.

Accountability is very rare.  Because a response is usually --they didn't knowwwww they could not do xyz.  

Being ignorant is their pass to get away with it AND it works.

I am sorry this happened. 

Does your CO reflect she MUST provide all travel info prior to departure? 

Goes to jail.  You get SK fill time for 5 to 10 years,  ?   NO let it go 

It's been 5 years. She's not doing anything crazy. Plus, if I remember correct, kids passports are only good for 5 years. And she may not have done anything wrong. We took DHs youngest for a passport and only DH signed. As others have said, you'd be causing issues for the kids also. This is really nothing I would fret over. Plus, she saved your DH some money...she could have asked for half. Nope. Not a hill to die on. Heck, not even a hill to approach.

One of my ex coworkers was warned by eldest daughter that daddy was covertly applying for their passports years after the divorce and my friend was worried what happens if he forges a signature.

but it's difficult to do because you need to sign in front of a witness from certain occupations so unless you have a mate willing to sign off in a dodgy manner, it's difficult to forge it

They will give the BM a pass.  Two tiered justice system