The number of international child abductions by parents increases every year.

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

Parent is behind on paying court-ordered child support.

What to do?

In some places, a good solution may be putting a “boot” on their cars’ tires.

In Michigan, the boots have spikes, which flatten the tires.

Read more in this [Lansing, MI] WLNS 6 TV news article: Parents Not Paying Child Support Will Get The Boot.

Divorce is about moving from here to there, emotionally. But it also represents a move from here to there, financially.

Many divorcing spouses focus on their emotional destination, to the exclusion of all else. They would benefit from putting some thought into their financial destination and situation as well.

For that purpose, it may be useful to:

1. create a realistic post-separation budget … before you agree to any settlement

2. open individual credit cards in just your name and close any joint credit card accounts

3. run your credit report with all the major credit reporting agencies … for the best chance of avoiding later surprises

4. don’t let your emotions alone rule big decisions such as whether to stay in the marital home … these should be at least partly financial decisions

5. be reasonable – don’t get caught up in waging expensive legal battles over (relative) trinkets

Read more in this Yahoo Shine article from Quizzle: Getting a Divorce? 5 Ways to Ensure It’s Not a Financial Disaster.

Texas Husband and Wife have two Sons, ages five and eight.

Wife and one Son are members of the Cherokee Indian Nation.

Husband and Wife allegedly chain their five year old Son to his crib-bed overnight, every night.

Husband and Wife are arrested for false imprisonment, child endangerment, child neglect, malicious punishment.

Sons are placed in foster care.

Sons are reportedly frightened of Husband and Wife.

The child welfare agency asks the Texas family court to terminate Husband’s and Wife’s parental rights to Sons.

The court awards Husband and Wife no visitation or timesharing with Sons.

Husband and Wife then request visitation with their younger Son.

A guardian ad litem for Sons recommends against visitation with Husband and Wife’s older Son based on the Son’s expressed preferences, and recommends only therapeutically supervised timesharing with younger Son.

Sons’ maternal grandmother is willing to have Sons placed with her if Husband and Wife’s parental rights are terminated.

Read more in this Austin Daily Herald article: Visitation denied for parents who chained son and this Austin Daily Herald article: Child-chaining parents plead guilty.

Indian Mother and Father of Hindu faith have Child together.

Mother dies.

Father takes up with another Woman, and converts to Islam.

Mother’s brother, Uncle, files for guardianship of Child based on Father’s abandonment of Hinduism and Uncle’s fear that Child will be kidnapped.

An Indian statute provides that no Hindu may continue as natural guardian (parent) of a child if that Hindu renounces Hinduism.

India’s highest appellate court is expected to interpret this statute and rule on it soon.

On a temporary basis, the Indian court has entered an order

1. restraining Father from transferring certain specified assets jointly owned by Mother and Father due to Child’s rights of inheritance and

2. awarding temporary custody of Child to … Uncle.

Read more in this Hindustan Times article: HC to decide if renouncing Hinduism means losing child’s custody.

Michigan family court awards primary custody of Children to Mother.

Father reportedly keeps Children beyond his allowed visitation and timesharing … and makes off with Children to Canada.

When captured by law enforcement authorities, Father contends that Mother is abusive toward Children and he is only trying to protect Children from Mother.

Father is charged with unlawful retention of the Children by a parent.

And the Children are returned to Mother’s care as originally court-ordered.

At trial, the Children’s testimony does not sound as though it corroborates Father’s version of events.

The jury cannot reach a unanimous verdict and a second trial is scheduled.

Read more in

• this Livingston [MI] Daily news article: Court Docket: Hung jury declared in parental kidnap case

• this Livingston [MI] Daily news article: No verdict yet in kidnap case

• this Livingston [MI] Daily news article: Trial begins Monday for father accused of parental kidnapping

Arizona Wife obtains domestic violence restraining order of protection against Husband.

Wife divorces Husband, who is now seventy-three years old, in 2008.

Husband and Wife’s divorce is reportedly contentious.

Three years later, Husband allegedly murders Wife, Wife’s attorney and several other people … and then commits suicide. Husband also wounds a friend of Wife’s, who survives.

According to law enforcement authorities, “these victims were targeted.”

Husband was reportedly divorced four times prior to his marriage to Wife.

Read more in this New York Times article: Six Dead in Southern Arizona Shooting, Including Gunman’s Ex-Wife and Her Lawyer and this Arizona Republic article: Yuma shootings: Slain victims identified; includes gunman’s ex-wife.

Husband, a partner at a large and prestigious New York law firm, and Wife, also an attorney, divorced in 2006. The couple had marital assets valued at $13 million at the time of their divorce.

Among their assets, the couple had invested several million dollars with Bernie Madoff. Husband opted to keep the Madoff account and other assets, so Husband wrote Wife a check as an equalization payment. In other words, so that Wife ended up with half of the value of the marital assets.

After the divorce, Husband invested additional money with Bernie Madoff.

Fast forward two years. Madoff is exposed for running a Ponzi scheme.

As things turned out, Husband figures he got the short end of the divorce stick. And that doesn’t sit right.

Husband wants to recoup his losses. So he sues …

Wife. Arguing, interestingly and creatively, that both Husband and Wife overestimated the value of their Madoff investments, so the equalization payment Husband made to Wife was larger than it should have been and …. should be refunded in part.

The New York family court dismissed Husband’s claim at trial. After all, as a matter of policy, divorce settlements are supposed to be final – unless, among a few narrow exceptions, one spouse commits fraud on the other.

There is no suggestion by Husband that Wife engaged in any fraud or nondisclosure. If anyone did, it was Bernie Madoff.

Husband’s law firm is representing him without charge, so … Husband appeals the family court’s ruling at trial.

On appeal, an intermediate appellate court reinstated Husband’s claim based on the contract law doctrine of “mutual mistake”. And yes, although most people probably don’t think of it that way, a marital settlement agreement is a contract.

Depending on the ultimate outcome of this case, not only might numerous divorce cases be revisited but also even more numerous contract disputes.

Read more in this Yahoo News Lookout piece: Citing Madoff fraud, lawyer wants divorce deal do-over and this New York Times article: Madoff Victim Seeks Divorce Do-Over.