The minor child, BV, was placed with a foster parent by the LA County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) after allegations that her parents abused her. The minor child and her mother traveled to California, as undocumented immigrants, approximately 2-3 months prior to DCFS removed … Read More about Case Update (28 January 2022): In re. BV; UCCJEA jurisdiction when there is no home state
Case Update (2021): Nobrega v. Colmenares; corruption in Venezuela was not a grave risk
The Nobrega/Colmenares family, all Venezuelan nationals, resided in Venezuela. When the parents separated, they initially exercised a schedule where Mr. Nobrega would see his son every week and where they shared parental responsibility. Ms. Colmenares began expressing concerns that their son would … Read More about Case Update (2021): Nobrega v. Colmenares; corruption in Venezuela was not a grave risk
Case Update (2021): Nowlan v. Nowlan, interplay of multiple proceedings in 2 countries
On June 10, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the W.D.Va. granted Bryce Nowlan's request to have his daughter AEN returned to Canada using the Hague Abduction Convention. The child is the subject of competing custody cases in Virginia and Canada, and was already the subject of a prior Hague … Read More about Case Update (2021): Nowlan v. Nowlan, interplay of multiple proceedings in 2 countries
Case Update (2021): In re Saida A; temporary absence from home state under the UCCJEA, temporary emergency jurisdiction, human rights
The Family Court of New York County addressed an interesting UCCJEA case on February 1, 2021. The minor child at issue was repatriated by the U.S. Department of State from Pakistan to New York on June 26, 2020 at the age of 16 because of concerns that she had been brutally beaten and … Read More about Case Update (2021): In re Saida A; temporary absence from home state under the UCCJEA, temporary emergency jurisdiction, human rights
Case Update (2020): Pawananun v. Pettit; child abuse should be serious and well-documented to be considered as a grave risk of harm
In the case of Pawananun v. Pettit, the U.S. District Court returned the parties' two daughters to their habitual residence of Thailand. The parties stipulated that the father, Mr. Pettit, had wrongfully removed the parties' children from Thailand. Mr. Pettit focused on arguing … Read More about Case Update (2020): Pawananun v. Pettit; child abuse should be serious and well-documented to be considered as a grave risk of harm
Case Update (2020): Valles Rubio v. Veintimilla Castro; Grave Risk in Hague Abduction Case, and ameliorative measures
On May 11, 2020, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the return of a minor child to Ecuador in the case of Valles Rubio v. Veintimilla Castro, 813 Fed.Appx. 619 (2020). The key issue on appeal revolved around the grave risk of harm to the minor child if returned to Ecuador, and … Read More about Case Update (2020): Valles Rubio v. Veintimilla Castro; Grave Risk in Hague Abduction Case, and ameliorative measures
Case Update (2020): Radu v. Shon; Hague Abduction Convention and the Grave Risk of Harm
On September 16, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona returned the parties' children to their habitual residence of Germany. In the case of Radu v. Shon, the Respondent Mother (Shon) conceded that her removal of the children from Germany in June 2019 was wrongful. … Read More about Case Update (2020): Radu v. Shon; Hague Abduction Convention and the Grave Risk of Harm
Case Update (2020): Interest of Doe I; Cross-Border Child Placement, Home Study in a Foreign Country
In the Interest of Doe I, 467 P.3d 442 (2020), two minor children were removed from their mother's care in Idaho after they were found homeless and living in a car. Their biological father's whereabouts were unknown, but presumably he had been deported to Mexico several years … Read More about Case Update (2020): Interest of Doe I; Cross-Border Child Placement, Home Study in a Foreign Country