Back in 2008, when Mother did not have legal status in the US and the family lived in Illinois, Father and Mother were battling over custody of Daughter.

So Mother allegedly made off with Daughter to her native Brazil.

Father hasn’t seen or spoken to Daughter since.

Until recently, that is.

But a couple of weeks ago, Father, who now lives in Arizona, went to mediation with Mother regarding Daughter, in Brazil.

The mediation was different from the typical divorce or child custody mediation. Not only did Mother’s mother attend (unusual in itself), but both the US State Department (the US central authority) and the Brazilian Central Authority had representatives attend under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

The marathon mediation session went on for fifteen hours. Kind of long for one session, but not altogether unheard of.

But the mediation was successful, and Mother and Father resolved custody and visitation and timesharing issues regarding Daughter.

And Father got to see Daughter for the first time in over three years.

Astonishingly, Daughter still remembered Father from before her abduction at two and one-half years of age.

And the two got to spend some quality time together in Brazil, having outings and re-establishing their father-daughter bond.

While the agreement cannot be described as overly generous to Father, it does at least provide for unlimited phone and internet-facilitated communication between Father and Daughter and for regular, if infrequent, timesharing and visitation with Daughter in Brazil until she is twelve and, thereafter, lengthier visitation and timesharing here in the US.

Meanwhile, Father continues to work on petitioning for legislation to facilitate blocking unauthorized removal of children from the US.

Mother could face federal criminal charges if she returns to the US.

Daughter is one of approximately twenty American children detained in Brazil despite the requirements of the Hague Convention.

On the other hand, Brazil claims that that about seventy Brazilian children are in the same boat here in the US.

Read more in this [Tempe, AZ] East Valley Tribune article: E.V. man finally sees daughter who was taken to Brazil; custody deal reached and this [Tempe, AZ] East Valley Tribune article: San Tan Valley man hopes international fight for daughter spurs law.

Their Daughter is now 8 years old.

Father gives Mother permission to take Daughter to Lebanon for a week to attend an extended family member’s wedding.

That was last February. And they haven’t returned to Canada since.

Father believes Mother has remarried a Lebanese man.

Since the alleged abduction, a Canadian family court has awarded Father sole custody of Daughter. And an arrest warrant has been issued for Mother.

But those measures have not been enough to make any headway.

Lebanon does not recognize the Canadian child custody order, and is doing nothing to help Father secure Daughter’s return to her home country, Canada.

Read more in this CBC News article: Quebec girl abducted by mother.

Husband is from Egypt.

Husband and Wife’s marriage is rocky.

While Wife is in the hospital, Husband allegedly abducts then three year old Son to his native Egypt.

Indiana family court awards Wife sole custody of Son.

Three years ago.

But Husband has not allowed Wife to see or speak to Son since.

Son has also had no contact with his big sister, from whom he was inseparable until the day he was abducted.

Husband was always insistent that Son be raised in the Muslim faith.

Wife never gave permission for Son to obtain a passport or to travel abroad.

However Husband was able to obtain an emergency passport for Son without Wife’s permission. It is unclear but the passport may have been issued by Egypt rather than the US.

The US government requires both parents’ consent to issue a passport for a minor child under sixteen years of age.

As an extra measure of protection, it is possible for either parent to place an alert so that the US government does not issue a passport for their child.

But parents should know that several foreign countries grant dual citizenship to American children of their nationals and may issue passports by their own country with only the permission of the parent who is a national of that country.

Egypt is not a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Wife’s US child custody order is not recognized in Egypt.

Seventy-four percent of the abducted children returned to the US in 2009 were abducted to Hague Convention countries.

Mother, as an American, non-Muslim woman, reportedly would not prevail in any child custody battle in Egypt’s own family courts.

Read more in this Evansville [IN] Courier Press article: Evansville’s Missing People: Life without Adam.

Father and Mother break up.

Father returns to Costa Rica.

Massachusetts child welfare agency removes Son from Mother’s care after Mother allegedly tests positive for cocaine and marijuana use and suffers a seizure.

Father’s Mother, Grandmother, cares for Son for about a year.

Then Son is returned to Mother.

About a year later, Mother again allegedly tests positive for drug use.

Then Mother turns Son over to Father and gives permission for Father to take Son to Costa Rica.

Mother asserts that Father’s permission was conditioned on returning Son to her in the US in September of 2006.

Father denies the existence of any such condition.

Father, worrying about Mother’s chronic substance abuse, keeps Son with him beyond September of 2006.

Mother files for custody in Massachusetts family court and presses criminal charges against Father in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts family court awards Mother custody of Son.

Father is not served with the court order.

In 2008, Father is arrested for kidnapping Son, and Father is extradited to Massachusetts.

All this time, Son remains in Costa Rica with Father’s brother, Uncle.

Costa Rican court grants Uncle permanent guardianship of Son.

Mother is reportedly arrested for hitting a police officer after fainting while driving. Mother confesses to having used marijuana with prescription medication.

Nonetheless, the Massachusetts family court orders Father to return Son to Mother.

Father does not.

Father pleads guilty to one count of parental kidnapping and is sentenced to time served.

Meanwhile, the Costa Rican family court refuses to recognize US jurisdiction over Son, who has been in Costa Rica for five years.

Costa Rica did not enter the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction until 2008.

And summons Mother to appear in court in Costa Rica regarding her parental fitness.

Father is awaiting disposition on another pending criminal charge against him in Massachusetts.

Son remains in Costa Rica, where he is reportedly thriving and excelling, having reportedly overcome developmental and speech delays.

Read more in this South Coast [MA] Today article: Parent kidnapping case drags on.

And now, a year later, an eleven year old boy who has spent most of his life in the Ocala, Florida area, must return to Costa Rica to live with his biological father.

The “psychological father” who raised him, a Florida attorney, exhausted all available legal options in an effort to allow the boy to remain in his Florida home.

The attorney was married for several years to the boy’s mother, who has a drug problem, but never legally adopted the boy.

During mother and son’s annual visit to Costa Rica, the boy’s biological father sought custody and was able to hold the boy there.

The Florida attorney hired a contractor to recover the boy, but the boy’s biological father pursued the boy’s return in American courts.

Read more in this Ocala Star-Banner news article: Boy, 11, headed back to Costa Rica..

So much so that the Office of Children’s Issues in the US State Department is one of the most rapidly expanding units in the State Department.

The Office is the so-called central authority under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Some American parents vented to Congress on Missing Children’s Day.

And one, whom it took five years to get his son back from Brazil, even long after the boy’s abducting mother died, lobbied for legislation enabling imposition of sanctions against countries that don’t comply with the Hague Convention.

There are currently no mechanisms for enforcing compliance with the Hague Convention – or punishing noncompliance.

The proposed legislation authorizes eighteen different sanctions for violation of the Hague Convention.

Read more in

• this AFP news article: International child abductions up sharply: US official

• this My Central New Jersey article: Dad promotes anti-abduction bill

• this Focus Information News Agency article: US ‘left-behind parents’ seek help to get kids back and

• this Hill article: Rep. Smith takes on child abduction

Last year, two thousand children were abducted into and out of the US.

These and similar statistics are only on the rise.

The Office of Children’s Issues in the Department of State is responsible for resolving child custody jurisdiction cases under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Read more in this Briefing on National Missing Children’s Day.

That may be about to change though. Japan has announced that it is preparing to enter the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, and it is targeting acting by year’s end.

If so, it will be no minor accomplishment, because the stricken nation will, presumably, first have to overhaul its own domestic child custody laws to make them compatible with the Hague Convention.

Currently, Japanese laws recognize only sole custody awarded to one parent, and make no provision for visitation or timesharing by the parent who is not awarded sole custody.

And the Japanese courts are, by all accounts, biased against foreigners and fathers.

The US and European countries have been exerting increasing pressure on Japan to adopt the Hague Convention and modernize its domestic child custody laws.

Read more in this Australian news article: Japan to sign child abduction convention and this Houston Chronicle news article: Japan moves to join global child custody pact.

Husband and Wife divorce.

Bermuda family court awards custody of Son to Husband.

Wife abducts Son and deprives Husband of any contact with Son for nine years. It appears that Wife and Son have been living in various locations in Florida since 2003, along with Son’s younger half-sister.

Mother reportedly has been arrested on more than one occasion for theft.

Son is located in a homeless shelter in western Florida, and authorities arrange for Son to be reunited with Husband.

Husband travels to the US for his first contact with Son in years. They enjoy spending several precious hours together.

But immediately prior to a scheduled mandatory US court appearance, Wife and Son disappear again.

This despite Husband’s application for Son’s return to Bermuda under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Read more in this [Bermuda] BerNews news article: Father’s Heartbreak: Jasai Swan-Burrows and this [Bermuda] Royal Gazette article: Heartbreak as father’s reunion with son ends abruptly.

Mother was awarded custody of Daughter in her parents’ divorce, but Daughter has maintained that Mother abused her. Although Canada granted Daughter refugee status, Mother secured Daughter’s deportation and return to Mexico under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

On appeal in Canada, however, a reversal paved the way for Daughter’s return to Canada for lack of a risk assessment hearing prior to her deportation. With intervention in the case from the UN Commissioner for Refugees and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the appellate court granted Daughter another hearing.

But Mexican authorities had no interest in the Canadian court’s rulings. So Daughter once again fled Mexico, with help from the Aunt with whom she had lived in Canada.

Now Daughter is back in Canada, which she considers her home. And a Canadian family court has ruled that she may remain in Canada permanently, in the care of her aunt.

Read more in this Canada.com news article: Teen embroiled in international custody battle can stay in Canada and this CBC News article: Deported teen refugee back in Toronto.

They have two Children together, Daughter and Son.

The marriage breaks down for many reasons. Among them, Wife alleges that Husband beats Son and shares a bed with Daughter while he is naked.

A Greek family court awards Wife sole custody of Children, with restricted visitation and timesharing to Husband.

During one such visitation, Husband reportedly absconds with the Children and abducts them to the US.

Husband settles with the Children in a Greek community in Florida, in the Tampa area. Money is tight, and Husband is arrested for shoplifting.

Through a Greek reality television crime show show picked up in the Tampa area, Wife learns that Children are in Florida.

Wife initiates an application for the return of the Children to Greece under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Law enforcement authorities become aware that Husband is wanted in Greece.

A federal judge in Florida in time enters a pickup order for the Children and Wife is reunited with the Children.

Wife prevails in the Hague Convention hearing and the US court orders that the Children be returned to Wife’s care in Greece.

Wife and Children return to Greece.

Shortly thereafter, Wife is assaulted and Husband allegedly abducts the Children again. To an undetermined location.

Authorities do not expect that Husband will return to the US this time.

Read more in this St Petersburg Times article: Greek drama plays out in Florida

Husband and Wife have two Children together and the family has been living in the US.

Wife takes the Children to Nigeria on vacation … and informs Husband that they will not be returning.

Wife takes the Children to the UK for a vacation.

Husband applies for return of the Children from the UK to the US under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, even though the Children are just visiting in the UK.

The UK trial court concludes that the Children are habitual residents of Nigeria … but orders the return of the Children from the UK to the US anyway.

Wife appeals.

The appellate court reverses, holding that the Children should remain in Nigeria.

The court weighed heavily the delay in filing for return of the Children in the UK..

Read more in this [UK] Children & Young People Now article: Legal Report: Child abduction and this Bailii [UK] England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions.

Mother and Father move to Malta in 2008 and remain there until early 2009.

Then Mother returns to Norway … and there learns that she is pregnant.

Father joins Mother in Norway due to Mother’s pregnancy.

Mother gives birth to Baby in Norway.

While still in Norway, Father finds out that Mother had had another child earlier … who was removed from Mother’s care by Norway’s child welfare agency.

Mother’s and Father’s Baby, upon birth, goes through withdrawal from medications Mother had been taking.

Norway’s child welfare agency becomes aware of Baby’s withdrawal symptoms and the cause.

Both Mother and Father are worried that Baby will be removed from Mother’s care by Norway’s child welfare agency.

And Mother and Father together decide to move back to Malta with Baby, when Baby is only a few days old.

Baby is “registered as a Maltese national” by Mother and Father.

Mother and Father break up in 2010.

A Maltese court then awards Father custody of Baby in early 2010.

Mother later files an application for return of Baby to Norway under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

A Maltese Court concludes that the Hague Convention is not applicable to Baby, because Baby was never abducted. Further, even if the Hague convention did apply, Baby’s “habitual residence” has, in fact, been Malta, not Norway.

Evidence also supports that Mother is mentally ill.

The Maltese Court denies Mother’s application for return of Baby to Norway and leaves custody with Father.

Read more in this Times of Malta article: Maltese father wins child ‘abduction’ case.

Mother removes Son from Australia, to an unknown location.

In search of Son, Father undertakes an expedition bicycling throughout Europe, wearing a T-Shirt bearing Son’s photograph. Father cycles through the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Germany, as well as other countries.

Father locates now six year old Son in Amsterdam.

Three years after Son went missing, a Dutch court grants permission for Father to return Son to Australia under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Mother is arrested in the Netherlands, where she is opposing extradition to Australia.

Read more in this 9 MSN News article: Aussie father and son’s happy ending and this New Zealand Herald article: Dad’s quest ends as son returns home.

Mother and Father split up. Mother returns to Mexico, taking Children with her.

Father regularly deposits child support money into a bank account for Mother. The support money accumulates in the account, unspent.

And Father hears worrisome gossip.

Father travels to Mexico to check on Children.

It turns out Mother left the Children with her eighty year old Grandmother … indefinitely. Without visiting them or seeing to their needs.

Children are living in terrible poverty. Daughter is malnourished. Children forage for food in dumpsters.

Grandmother and Father appear before Mexico’s child welfare agency. No one knows how to reach Mother to inform her.

Grandmother gives up custody of Children to Father, who will take them to the US.

Children settle in with Father in the US. Children do not miss Mexico.

Two years go by. Mother files an application for return of the Children to Mexico under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

The US judge hearing the case rules that there was no abduction, because Grandmother agreed to Father taking the Children to the US and the Children are now well-settled. Further, Mother’s action is untimely and barred.

Read more in this Treasure Coast [FL] Palm article: Anthony Westbury: This judge really got it right.

Father and Mother have Daughter.

Father and Mother split up.

El Salvador family court awards Mother sole custody of Daughter, reportedly without challenge from Father.

Father asks Mother’s permission to bring Daughter to the US to take her to Disneyland. Mother agrees.

Father allegedly wrongfully retains Daughter in US.

Mother then files for return of Daughter to El Salvador under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

In federal court, Father contends that Mother’s litigation is untimely and that Daughter is settled in the US, that Daughter would be at grave risk of harm if returned to Mother in El Salvador and that Daughter wants to stay in the US.

The Arkansas court rejects each of Father’s positions in turn, finding fault in the legal analysis and/or taking a different view of the facts.

And, nearly two years after Father’s retention of Daughter, a federal judge in Arkansas orders Father to return Daughter to Mother in El Salvador … within fourteen days … at Father’s sole expense.

Read more in this [Fort Smith, AR] Times Record article: Judge Orders Girl, 7, Sent Back To Mom.

Wife is from Argentina.

Husband and Wife divorce.

Custody evaluator appointed by the divorce court reportedly believes that Wife poses an abduction risk to Daughters.

Family court awards primary custody of Daughters to Husband.

Wife is awarded liberal timesharing with Daughters in the US. Wife is also granted the right to take Daughters to Argentina in the summer and in the spring.

During her timesharing with Daughters shortly after the divorce is finalized, Wife takes them to Argentina – for good.

Family court orders that Wife return Daughters to the US right away.

Wife pays no attention to divorce court orders.

Argentina is a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Husband files an application for return of Daughters to the US.

Husband is advised that the process could take eighteen months.

Read more in this [Glenwood Springs, CO] Post Independent article: Snowmass man haunted by international abduction.

Mother and Father separate.

Father is awarded primary custody of Daughter.

Mother allegedly abducts Daughter two years ago, to China.

China is not a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Father seeks assistance from the Canadian police. Eventually, Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Interpol and the Missing Children Society of Canada become involved.

And now, two years later, Daughter is back in Canada as a result of lengthy diplomatic negotiations.

Daughter is now of school age.

Mother will be appearing before a judge to answer for her actions.

Read more in this Calgary [Canada] Herald article: Girl, dad reunite 2 years after mom took her to China and this Morningstar MarketWire article: Missing Children Society of Canada: Calgary Girl Reunited With Father, Ending 2 Year Abduction Ordeal.

Husband and Wife have two Sons together.

Family lives in Malaysia.

Husband unilaterally converts to Islam during marriage.

Husband converts young Sons to Islam without Wife’s agreement – or knowledge.

Husband and Wife separate.

Wife takes Sons to live in Australia.

Wife brings a constitutional case over Husband’s secret conversion of Sons, seeking custody of them.

Malaysian Court enters temporary timesharing order requiring Wife to bring Sons to Malaysia so that Husband may exercise visitation with Sons.

Wife allegedly does not comply with temporary order.

Husband presses Wife’s contempt and objects to her case being heard because of it.

Malaysian Court holds that Wife has no right to put on her case, because she is in violation of the court’s order by withholding Husband’s access to Sons. Wife must return to Malaysia to earn the right to press her case … or her case will be dismissed.

Read more in
this MSN article: Shamala cannot be heard as she breached visitation rights and
this Malaysian Digest article: Federal Court Dismisses Shamala’s Referral Application.

Mother and Father have two Children, Son and Daughter, together.

Mother and Father separate.

Mother is awarded sole parental responsibility for Children.

Mother, who lives in the UK, takes Children to Turkey to visit Grandparents.

While in Turkey, Father allegedly seizes Children’s passports and forcibly abducts Children.

Son manages to escape and is returned to Mother in the UK, despite lack of a passport.

Turkish authorities initially refuse to facilitate the return of Daughter to Mother, although Turkey is a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

But subsequently, authorities intervene to persuade Father to bring Daughter to Mother, where they reside in the UK.

Upon Father’s return to the UK, he is served with several court orders, including an order for Father to return Daughter to Wife and another prohibiting Father from having contact with Children or Mother.

Read more in this Yorkshire [UK] Post article: Police persuade father to bring home his abducted daughter.

Daughter lives with Mother in Mexico. Father lives abroad.

Daughter, at 13, runs away from Mother in Mexico and goes to live with Aunt in Canada, with Grandmother’s assistance.

Daughter obtains asylum in Canada under the United Nations Refugee Convention, alleging that Mother abuses her.

Mother files an application for Daughter’s return to Mexico under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Mother maintains that Father’s family orchestrated Daughter’s flight.

Once a person is granted “protected” status under the UN Convention, they cannot generally be returned to the country where they were prosecuted.

But parents have the legal right to make decisions and exercise authority on behalf of their children. Therefore, the Hague Convention likely takes precedence over the UN Convention where parental rights to a minor child are involved.

At trial, the Canadian Court orders that Daughter return to Mexico.

Aunt is appealing the ruling.

Read more in this Toronto Star article: Mexican teen who fled abuse returned to mother.

Husband is arrested for domestic violence.

Wife takes Son back to live in Italy.

Wife files for divorce in Italy, where Wife and Husband were married.

Husband challenges jurisdiction in Italy, and files for divorce in Georgia.

Georgia family court awards Husband temporary custody of Son.

Italy grants Wife a divorce, and awards Wife custody of Son.

Georgia divorce court holds that Italy has jurisdiction and dismisses Husband’s divorce case in Georgia.

Husband appeals the Georgia divorce court’s dismissal of his case.

Even where the courts of a jurisdiction may exercise jurisdiction, they may also decline to exercise jurisdiction.

In ruling on jurisdiction, the Court may also consider domestic violence and likelihood of harm to the child.

A ruling from Georgia’s appellate court is not expected for months.

A US Court apparently awarded her client custody of his children.

Unfortunately, the mother of the children has them with her in Japan. And Japan won’t honor the US judgment and return the children.

The attorney’s message is, in a nutshell, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

If minor American children don’t have passports, the very best prevention of international parental child abduction is to block their issuance.

This can be accomplished by either parent registering in the US Department of State’s Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program.

Remember though that some children may have dual citizenship by virtue of one parent’s foreign citizenship. If so, the foreign parent may be able to obtain a foreign passport for the children, sometimes without the American parent’s knowledge or consent.

Once a passport has been issued to a child, there is no way to ensure that that child cannot travel abroad.

Many common carriers do require written consent of both parents to each trip abroad, but this is not a legal requirement.

Once a family court case is filed, a court may issue an order to secure children’s passports and prohibit foreign travel, but it doesn’t happen automatically.

Read more in this Dayton [OH] Daily News piece: Parents can take preventive steps to prevent abductions.

A comprehensive, if somewhat dated list of steps a parent may take if their child is abducted is excerpted and cited below.

• Request revocation of the other parent’s passport
• Request revocation or suspension of the other parent’s green card.
• Request assistance from INTERPOL.
• Follow / trace the money that the other parent is using.
• File in a US court for custody and return of your child
• File in the foreign court for custody and return of your child
• and much more.

Read much more in this disjointed San Francisco All Voices news article: How do mainstream media cover international child custody disputes? because there is still some good information there.

Wife is allegedly threatened and abused by Husband. Husband denies such allegations.

Wife flees with Son to live in Senegal and Thailand.

After Son reaches the age of eighteen, Wife and Son return to Washington.

And Wife is arrested on charges of custodial interference.

Wife enters plea bargain under which prosecutors recommend a sentence of thirty days’ incarceration.

The trial court, however, repudiates the prosecution’s sentence recommendation and instead sentences Wife to one hundred eighty days’ confinement, with credit for time served. Leaving almost three months to go on Wife’s sentence.

Neither Senegal nor Thailand are parties to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Read more in this Seattle Times news article: Chehalis woman sentenced in child custody case.

When Son is an infant, Wife takes Son to Greece to visit extended family.

And decides not to return to US. And to keep Son in Greece.

Husband promptly obtains a divorce in California. The California family court awards Husband sole custody of Son.

But the Greek family court, even though Greece is a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, does nothing to enforce the US court order.

After a couple of years of that, Husband goes to Greece and simply takes Son back to the US. Husband advises California family court of his actions.

Then Wife, as Husband had done in Greece, files an application under the Hague Convention for Son’s return to Greece.

Inexplicably, the US federal court judge presiding over the Hague Convention case in the US disregards the California family court custody order!

Instead the judge rules that Son return to Wife in Greece at that time, but establishes a rotating timesharing schedule in which Son alternates between Husband and Wife every three months.

Husband appeals the federal trial court’s ruling disregarding the California family court’s custody award.

Eventually, Husband wins his appeal. Son is to return home to California.

But now the US federal court judge rules that Wife should have a final visit with Son in Greece.

Needless to say, Wife once again retains Son in Greece. And cuts off all contact with Husband.

And, despite multiple US court orders requiring Son to be returned to Husband in the US, Son remains in Greece.

The California State Attorney’s office and the US Attorney’s office are both investigating Husband’s case.

Son likely will soon begin kindergarten in Greece.

Even if Wife would permit it, Husband cannot return to Greece to visit Son for fear of being arrested there.

Read more in this Santa Cruz Sentinel article: Watsonville native, Greek citizen embroiled in international custody dispute to get his son back.

Father is sentenced to jail.

Mother is struggling financially.

Father’s mother (Grandmother) comes from Mexico to visit Mother and Children.

By agreement with Mother, Grandmother takes the Children back to Mexico for about six months.

Grandmother sends Daughter back early.

But, at the end of the six months, refuses to return Son.

Grandmother files in Mexico for legal guardianship of Son, and cuts off contact with Mother.

Mother reports Son as abducted to authorities in California, and files a proceeding for Son’s return to the US under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

California and US government officials meet with their Mexican counterparts.

The Mexican trial courts rule that Son should be returned to Mother in the US.

But Grandmother does not comply … and files appeals and civil rights cases to stall the conclusion of the case.

Seven years after Son’s arrival in Mexico, Mother and Daughter go again to Grandmother’s home. They finally get to see Son after all those years.

Grandmother agrees to allow Son’s return.

Son arrives back in the US on the Fourth of July.

Read more in this Woodland [CA] Record article: Boy reunited with family after prolonged Hague process.

If the parents break up, one gets sole custody of their children and the other gets … absolutely nothing. No custody. No visitation. No contact.

Ever. As though that parent had died.

Unless the custodial parent chooses to allow it.

Who gets custody in Japan?

If one of the parents is not Japanese, the Japanese parent almost always is the one to win custody.

Regardless of what any prior foreign custody determinations may have been.

Making Japan the ideal place for a Japanese parent living abroad to flee with their children.

Other nations have been increasingly vocal in insisting that Japan enter the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

As well as many Japanese family lawyers and parents.

But that would be only the first step necessary to protect the parental rights of foreigners.

Japan’s archaic domestic family law would have to change dramatically as well.

Read more in this Inter Press Service article: Left-Behind Parents Want End to Single Child Custody System and this Conducive Chronicle article: Left Behind Parents.

Mother, Son and Stepfather live in Florida.

Mother and Son visit Costa Rica once annually.

In 2004, Mother and Stepfather divorce.

In 2008, Son’s biological father (Father) files a legal case to keep Son in Costa Rica.

The Costa Rican court awards Father temporary custody of Son and orders that Son remain in Costa Rica.

This temporary ruling is upheld in higher Costa Rican courts.

Stepfather files a return application under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, asserting that Son was wrongfully retained in Costa Rica.

Frustrated by the slow progress of that case, Stepfather gets Son back to Florida using private third parties with military backgrounds.

Shortly before the final hearing is supposed to take place in Costa Rica, Stepfather and Mother secure Son’s return to Florida.

Mother and Stepfather are reportedly branded criminals in certain circles.

Father files in a Florida court for Son’s return to Costa Rica under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Father’s Florida case is not about custody of Son, but about the place of Son’s habitual residence prior to Mother’s and Father’s removal of Son from Costa Rica and the proper jurisdiction to determine custody of Son.

Stepfather is litigating this case vigorously, having thus far lost his gambit to have it dismissed entirely.

Stepfather maintains that his legal paternity of Son was legally established in his divorce from Mother (not a Florida stepparent adoption proceeding). Based on that position, in the eyes of the law, Stepfather was already legally determined to be Son’s legal father here in Florida long prior to Father’s filing of any legal case asserting rights to Son.

But, regardless of the legislative intent behind the Hague Convention, it affords a legal remedy to persons with “rights of custody”, and is not strictly limited to biological or legal parents.

Further, Father counterargues that Stepfather and Mother fraudulently amended their divorce paperwork regarding Son after proceedings in Costa Rica were filed … and that Father had no notice of same.

Stepfather counters back that Father more or less abandoned Son for nine years, before filing in Costa Rica.

A sad and complex case …

Read more in this Ocala [FL] Star-Banner article: Battle for boy back in Ocala.

A Chilean family court awards Mother custody of Child in divorce.

The Chilean court also enters a ne exeat order barring Mother from removing Child from the nation of Chile without Father’s consent.

Without Father’s permission, Mother leaves with Child for Texas.

Father files in the US for return of Child to Chile under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

The federal trial court denies Father’s application, holding that the travel restriction does not confer custodial rights on Father which would afford him standing to file under the Hague Convention. Same result at the intermediate federal appellate court.

Father files for review by the US Supreme Court.

And the High Court holds that the ne exeat order does in fact confer a right of custody as that term is used in the Hague Convention, and that the ban on removal of the Child from Chile may be enforced under the Hague Convention by an application for return of the Child.

The Court did not rule on Child’s return, however, remanding for further findings of fact with regard to applicability of certain exceptions to return specified under the Hague Convention.

Read more in this UK Family Law Week article: US Supreme Court decides that ne exeat rights are ‘rights of custody’ and this National Law Journal article: International Abduction Treaty Trumps Parental Rights, Says U.S. Supreme Court.

Thousands of children are abducted overseas by loved ones each year.

Last year, more than 2,000 children were abducted to or from the US alone. Many of them have not yet been recovered.

The Department of State is uniquely qualified to draw attention to this issue as the Central Authorty for the US designated under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Claims by parents left behind in other countries are directed to them under the Hague Convention. And American residents whose children have been abducted out of the US also turn to them for assistance.

Read more in this US Department of State press release: National Missing Children’s Day.

It’s in the news more and more … and on the rise.

There were one thousand, six hundred and fifty cases of children abducted from the US just last year.

Of those, two hundred and seventy were from California alone.

California is said to be home to many couples where each partner is from a different country.

Unfortunately, even among signatory nations, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is not always interpreted and applied similarly.

As a result, left behind parents can go months and years – and longer – without seeing their abducted children … regardless of what the Hague Convention says.

Read more in this KPIX CBS 5 TV news article: California Leads U.S. In Int’l Child Abductions.

After a couple of years, Husband and Wife break up.

Wife is primary residential parent but Husband has substantial visitation and timesharing.

Husband is from Libya.

During Husband’s timesharing almost three years ago, Husband allegedly abducts Daughter and flies with her to Libya.

Libya is not a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Neither Wife nor the UK could do much about the abduction.

Eventually, Wife moves to Libya to pursue legal action there.

Husband allows her little to no contact with Daughter.

Eventually, a Libyan Court grants her timesharing for two hours a week – until Husband appeals successfully.

More than two years later, Wife prevails and is able to return with Daughter to the UK.

By this time, Daughter remembers little English and they are virtual strangers to one another.

Husband will not be prosecuted for kidnapping, by Wife’s agreement.

About three hundred British children are abducted out of the UK by a parent each year.

Read more in this Fabulous: News of the World Magazine article: My husband stole my baby.

Grandparents were right there alongside Stepfather as he maneuvered for years to deny Father any contact with Son and to block Father from regaining custody of Son and returning Son to his native New Jersey.

Since Son’s return just several months ago, Grandparents have repeatedly sought access to Son. Now Grandparents are complaining that Father has denied them access to Son for … a whole month.

It is not clear what the legal basis for their position is, if any.

Father reportedly wants therapists to supervise any contact between Grandparents and Son, at least during Son’s adjustment period.

Not getting their way, Grandparents showed up in New Jersey and filed an emergency proceeding for visitation. The Court would not entertain the matter on an emergency basis, of course, but did set a future hearing.

Read more in this Associated Press article: New dispute over boy brought to NJ from Brazil and this AOL News article: Grandmother Fights for Visitation in Goldman Case.

Husband and Wife have Son, who is also a US citizen.

The family lives in the US, specifically California, for Son’s whole life.

Wife is unhappy and now claims to be a victim of abuse.

While on vacation visiting family in India, Wife decides to stay in India to see how she enjoys the work there and to have Son in India while she is doing so.

Husband arguably consents to the seemingly temporary arrangement.

Two months after arriving in India and after Husband files for divorce and custody of Son in the US, Wife seeks an Indian court order awarding her custody and guardianship of Son.

Husband intervenes in the Indian action, arguing that India does not have jurisdiction over Son.

The Indian trial court nonetheless proceeds and find for the Wife.

But the intermediate level appellate court reverses, concluding that Son is a permanent resident of the US and merely a temporary resident of India and therefore defers to the California court’s jurisdiction over Son.

The case is now on appeal to the Supreme Court of India.

Its forthcoming ruling will impact many families in similar situations.

India is not currently a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Read more in this [Indian] Daily News & Analysis article: Can Indian judiciary interfere with orders of courts abroad? SC to decide.

Husband and Wife enter agreement that Son will live with Husband in France.

Wife has timesharing with Son in US for last year’s Christmas holiday. Wife is expected to send Son back to France on January 3rd of this year.

But Wife keeps Son with her.

Husband files for Son’s return to France under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

In a Colorado trial court, Wife alleges that Husband perpetrated domestic violence against her in Son’s presence and that Son appears to be the victim of emotional abuse by Husband.

Wife also contends that Husband had her institutionalized in France to coerce her into divorce and into agreeing to give Husband custody of Son.

Husband does not deny these allegations. Husband’s position appears to be that they are irrelevant.

The trial court disagrees … and appoints a therapist to evaluate Son’s maturity and wishes.

Read more in this Pueblo [CO] Chieftain article: Pueblo woman embroiled in international custody case and this Pueblo [CO] Chieftain article: Mother: Coerced to give up son.

Mother is from Ecuador. Divorce judgment permits Mother to take Daughter to visit Ecuador, but only upon prior notice to Father.

Father goes to Mother’s house in Michigan to pick Daughter up. And finds house empty.

Then Mother reportedly calls Father to tell him that they are in Ecuador.

In a letter, Mother notes that she feels “alienated” since their divorce. Mother also alleges that Father abuses drugs and that Daughter suffered burns several times while with Father.

Father maintains that child protective services has already investigated and cleared him.

Mother hires Michigan attorney, who contends that Mother is trying to protect Daughter.

Mother faces charges of parental kidnapping.

Father maintains that Mother is unstable and should not have Daughter.

Ecudador is a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Father is seeking Daughter’s return under the Hague Convention.

Read more in this WZZM ABC 13 news article: Greenville dad says his daughter was taken to Ecuador illegally.

According to their lawyer, the missionaries are said to be in possession of paperwork backing up their authorization to remove the children from Haiti. But it is unclear whether the authorization is proper, or whether the children had passports.

It turns out that twenty of the children may not actually be orphans and may have one or more living parents. And their parents allegedly claim that the missionaries were only supposed to educate the children in the Dominican Republic, not take them to the US.

Now the missionaries are detained, under arrest in Haiti, for kidnapping the children into the Dominican Republic and for criminal conspiracy.

Rumor suggests that the missionaries’ leader may have misled others in their group about their humanitarian mission and/or legal procedure. The leader is under investigation in the US in connection with other possible crimes. But she reportedly maintains that the children’s parents wanted to give their children a better life.

It does not appear that most of the missionaries were aware that it would be illegal to remove the childen from Haiti without proper legal authorization.

The Haitian court has three months to rule on this case. Kidnapping is punishable in Haiti by up to fifteen years’ imprisonment.

Read more in

• this China Central Television article: Missionaries charged with child abduction
• this Salem [OR] News article: Five of Ten Americans on Child Abduction Charges Taken to Port-au-Prince Court
• this UK Times article: US Baptists charged with Haiti child abduction face 15 years in jail
• this New York Times article: Haiti Charges Americans With Child Abduction

Mother has custody of their Daughter and they live in Malta.

Father lives in Scotland.

Last November, Mother and Daughter go to Scotland to visit relatives.

While they are there, Father requests a visitation day in Scotland. Mother agrees.

But Father refuses to return Daughter and accuses Mother of keeping Daughter in a dangerous and unsanitary environment.

Because of Father’s allegations, Scottish authorities detain Daughter in Scotland pending a hearing.

Daughter remains in Scotland for almost two months, attending a Scottish school, before any hearing.

In early January, the Scottish court finds that Husband has no rightful claim to custody of Daughter and rules that Daughter should be returned to Malta under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Read more in this Times of Malta article: Girl returned to mother after ‘nightmare’.

Unfortunately, this is a far cry from the reality.

According to an article written from the British perspective, one-third of children abducted from the UK to other countries which have signed the Hague Convention are not returned within a year. Several countries typically require well over a year, or even a couple of years, for cases to run the course of their legal system.

Some countries which are parties to the Hague Convention reportedly never return children. Others rarely do so.

According to the article, Hague Convention signatory countries least likely to return children to the UK (and, presumably, anywhere else) are:

• Croatia

• Ecuador

• Honduras

• Mauritius

• Peru

• Serbia

• Sweden

• Zimbabwe

According to the article, even the US refused to return one-third of abducted children.

Of course, some cases of non-return by Hague Convention signatories may be the result of good faith differences in findings of fact or good faith differences in the application of the law of the Convention (particularly the exceptions) to the facts of the cases.

But, if this is the track record of the countries that agreed to the Hague Convention, the even poorer track records of non-party countries shouldn’t be surprising.

Read more in this [UK] Guardian article: Third of abducted children not returned home after a year.

Yet it took nearly six years and massive political and legal effort to secure the return to this country from Brazil of a little American boy abducted by his mother … who died over a year ago.

That boy reportedly was far from the only American (or other non-Brazilian) child abducted to Brazil.

On the other hand, India is not a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Yet, in a recent case there, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that an Indian Wife who had been permanently residing in the UK with her Husband and their child, must return to the UK with their child for custody proceedings there.

Ultimately, the adverse impact of Brazil’s conduct on future trade with the US may have propelled Brazil to finally send the boy home.

Now, a Congressman from that boy’s home state, New Jersey, has introduced legislation intended to promote enforcement of the Hague Convention by appointing an official to monitor compliance and to empower the government to impose sanctions for noncompliance.

An international network of judges is also communicating in the hope of facilitating timely returns of abducted children.

Read more in this [India] Daily News and Analysis article: SC asks NRI woman to fight child custody battle in England and this Baltimore Sun article: Justice for stolen kids and this [New Jersey] Hub article: Legislators call for bill on international child abduction.

His Father has been fighting to get him back home since 2004.

Even after Mother died in Brazil last year, the Brazilian courts still dragged their heels in returning Boy to his Father in the US – despite Brazil being a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Numerous politicians and celebrities have spoken out in support of Father and reached out to their counterparts and contacts in Brazil in the hopes of freeing the Boy.

But none of that helped either.

The President of this country finally called the President of Brazil … but it isn’t clear that that helped much either.

No, what reportedly finally did the trick was Congress holding up a trade deal worth almost $3 billion to Brazil.

And thanks to their astuteness, Father and Son are finally reunited and their flight touched down here in Florida a short time ago.

Read more in this Associated Press article: Boy, American dad arrive in US from Brazil.

Wealthy French Father, accompanied by counsel, takes papers that look like official Mexican court papers before a Texas judge, representing that he has legal custody of Son.

The Mexican court papers were reportedly incomplete and misleading.

Apparently, neither Father’s counsel nor the court verified them.

Texas judge enters pick-up order for Son, with a hearing date scheduled for shortly afterwards.

Law enforcement officers pick up Son, who protests vigorously the entire time, to the effect that Father beats him.

Officers ignore Son’s words.

Mother tries to get Son back at airport.

Son refuses to accompany her – out of fear that Father will kill Mother.

Father absconds with Son.

Not for the first time, according to Mother.

Father and Son miss scheduled court date.

Texas court issues warrant for Father’s arrest on perjury and custodial interference.

That was two months ago.

Father allegedly abducted Son to France for two years, reportedly beating him and leaving him unsupervised and denying any contact at all with Mother.

Read more in this Fox News article: Worldwide Manhunt Under Way for Fugitive Father, Missing Son and this San Antonio Express News article: Dad accused of perjury, kidnapping.

Later, Husband contacts Wife and invites her and two year old Baby to China to reconcile.

Within a day of Wife’s and Baby’s arrival, Husband reportedly disappears with Baby. Husband takes up with Chinese Girlfriend.

Husband leaves Baby with a babysitter and fails to pick her up. Baby ends up in a Chinese orphanage. After Husband allegedly abducts her.

Wife and Mexican Embassy official show up where Husband is staying. Husband goes after them both with knives, but is not prosecuted in China.

Wife obtains a New York State court order, awarding her sole custody of Baby.

China is not a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and does not recognize foreign child custody orders.

Wife obtains a US visa by virtue of being a victim of domestic violence. Husband is deported from China.

Warrant is issued in US and Husband is arrested by US federal authorities for international parental kidnapping.

A combination of US nonprofit agency attorneys, private attorneys, Chinese private investigators, the Mexican consulate in China, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US State Department, and Wife’s resourcefulness, initiative and determination culminated in Wife finding Baby, abandoned in the Chinese orphanage.

Read more in this New York Times article: Family Fights Odds, Retrieving Kidnapped Girl.

Girls’ Mother abducts the Girls to Morocco.

Unlike the UK, Morocco is not a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Abduction.

Now Mother won’t return Girls to the UK and Grandmother.

The matter is in legal limbo in Morocco.

Grandmother would like to fly there to expedite things, but can’t afford the flight.

UK officials are negotating through the Moroccan Ambassador to the UK.

The Moroccan Ministry for Foreign Affairs has requested a document explaining the circumstances in both Engllish and Arabic.

That will be the basis of the decision by a Moroccan judge.

Mother is charged with child abduction.

Read more in this Blackpool [UK] Gazette article: Help us fly out to get our girls.