People come from all over the world to Ohio either for employment, school or immigration.  As they settle down in this State, get married and have families, if divorce occurs there is always a possibility that one parent may take the child; leave the United States; and establish the child’s residence elsewhere.  All without the consent of the remaining parent. Such an act results in a lot of detriment to the child.

The Hague Convention governs international child abduction.  The Convention arose in response to the global problem of international child abduction. The countries to the Convention adopted it to protect children internationally from the harmful effects of their wrongful removal or retention and to establish procedures to ensure their prompt return to the [nation-state] of their habitual residence, as well as to secure protection for the rights of access.

To invoke the protection of the Hague Convention, the child at issue must be "habitually resident" in a signatory country and have been removed to another signatory country.  The petitioner must then demonstrate that the other parent wrongfully removed or retained the child; however, the Convention does permit limited defenses to the abduction. The courts have experienced difficultly settling on a definition for "habitual residence."  Even though most of the circuit courts have considered the issue, they have not reached a consensus on the definition.

Mazel Law will aggressively protect your rights and give you the advice you need to act within, or proceed under, the principles of the Hague Convention as it has been adopted by the Ohio Family Code.

Mazel Law has experience with the following international family law issues:

Hague Convention This is a international treaty available to parents seeking the return of, or access to, their child. As an international treaty, the parents, not the governments, are parties to the legal action. The countries that are party to the Convention have agreed that a child who is habitually resident in one party country, and who has been removed to or retained in another party country in violation of the left-behind parent's custodial rights, shall be promptly returned to the country of habitual residence. The Convention can also help parents exercise visitation rights abroad.  The United States has adopted the treaty and enforces it through the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (ICARA)

Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA) This is an act that attempts to address the problems of child litigation between states. The act emphasizes ways to deal with the two great injustices under existing laws: 1- that the person in possession of the child has the tactical advantage of keeping or obtaining custody regardless of the best interest; and 2 – that to obtain that advantage, people will take possession of the child either through guile or ruthlessness. The UCCJA was created to dissuade child snatchers.

Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA) Between 25,000 and 100,000 children are victims of interstate child snatchings each year. The PKPA provides that “the appropriate authorities in every State shall enforce according to its terms, and shall not modify… any child custody determination made consistently with the provision of this section by a court of another state.”

If you are seeking advice in an international child abduction case, call our office at 614-837-5077, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or contact us online.