The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington denied Mr. Colchester’s request that the court immediately return his daughter to him in Spain pursuant to the Hague Abduction Convention. The case came before the court after Ms. Lazaro, the child’s mother, removed the case from the state family court. Mr. Colchester requested the federal court promptly return his daughter, and argued that the court need not take evidence to do so. The court disagreed. While the court has discretion to determine its procedures for resolving the petition, and courts have resolved Hague Abduction return petitions merely on the papers (see Pope v. Lunday), in this case, Mr. Colchester has not yet met his burden of proof to establish a prima facie case that his daughter was wrongfully removed from her habitual residence. Citing to the February 25, 2020 opinion of Monasky v. Taglieri, the court acknowledged that habitual residence is a fact-bound determination, and Mr. Colchester must demonstrate Spain was his daughter’s habitual residence by a preponderance of the evidence before the court can return her. (Note: there was an existing custody order that established rights of custody). If Mr. Colchester proves his case, then the burden would shift to Ms. Lazaro for the opportunity to argue an exception. The matter was therefore scheduled to proceed in due course. To be continued …
