Family Law and IAML
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When you are having family issues and you or the family member are living overseas, this can make the legal process that you need to go through even more complicated. Especially with issues like visitation rights and child custody, you may not be sure what kind of lawyer you need to hire or whether laws in the United States will apply to decisions being made overseas. This is why it is extremely important that you work with a family law lawyer who is a member of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (IAML). A lawyer who is a member of the IAML is going to not only have experience in family law but will also have the ability to navigate international laws as well.
What makes international child custody disputes more complicated?
Child custody disputes can already be very difficult when it comes to deciding which parent can have sole custody, whether there is shared custody, and what kinds of visitation rights they should have. In some cases, if the parents are going through a divorce, one of the parents may choose to take the child away from the other parent and stay in a foreign country. If this has happened to your child and your child’s other parent did this without your consent, speak to a lawyer immediately.
Consider the Hague Convention
The Hague Convention was enacted in the 1980s and is in place to help when one parent removes a child from the care of the other parent and takes them out of their home country. The Convention is there to help bring the child back to their home country so that the courts make the best decision regarding child custody. The Hague Convention is not followed in every nation, so your family law lawyer can shed more light on how you are to proceed if this situation has occurred.
If the child has been wrongly removed to another country, the parent in the home country can work with their attorney to file a petition with the local court.
How does a court determine if the child was “abducted” or wrongfully removed?
Typically, if one parent takes the child away without the consent of the other parent (and knowing that the other parent would not have consented to the removal) this is when a court would consider it to be wrongful.
International family disputes like child custody can be extremely difficult, which is why working with a family law attorney who is a member of the IAML is so important to keeping your family safe.
For more information, contact a family law attorney IAML member from Divorce Lawyer Chronicles today.