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Preventing International Child Abduction: Texas Case

By Jeremy Morley

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.salon.com/mwt/feature/2003/01/07/custody/story.jpg"img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="http://images.salon.com/mwt/feature/2003/01/07/custody/story.jpg" border="0" //aspan style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,51)"When should a court take steps to prevent possible international child abduction by a foreign national parent?/span p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"This issue is critical to many parents but many courts -- and even many family law lawyers -- do not give the issue the serious consideration that it must be given./pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"The consequences of international parental child abduction are frequently so severe that when a parent raises concerns there is an obligation to consider them long and hard. The challenge for judges is that the evidence that is proffered by worried parents is invariably speculative./pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"To require a parent who wishes to prevent abduction to produce clear proof of an actual threat to abduct imposes an often-impossible burden on a concerned parent./pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"Recently a Texas Court of Appeals was asked to consider whether a trial court had improperly found a potential risk of abduction of a child by her Bulgarian father. Karenev v.Kareneva, No. 2-06-269-CV (?xml:namespace prefix = st1 /st1:state st="on"st1:place st="on"Tex./st1:place/st1:state App.3/20/2008) (Tex. App., 2008)./pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"Fortunately for the mother and child, st1:state st="on"st1:place st="on"Texas/st1:place/st1:state has been relatively forward-thinking in having enacted legislation expressly designed to prevent international child abduction (Texas Statutes Sec. 153.50 et seq)./pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"The legislation instructs the courts that in determining whether there is a risk of the international abduction of a child by a parent of the child, ?the court shall consider evidence that the parent:span style="font-size:+0;"/spanspan style="font-size:+0;"/spanspan style="font-size:+0;"/span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"span style="font-size:+0;"/span(1)span style="font-size:+0;" /spanhas taken, enticed away, kept, withheld, or concealed a child in violation of another person's right of possession of or access to the child, unless the parent presents evidence that the parent believed in good faith that the parent's conduct was necessary to avoid imminent harm to the child;/pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"span style="font-size:+0;"/spanspan style="font-size:+0;"/span(2)span style="font-size:+0;" /spanhas previously threatened to take, entice away, keep, withhold, or conceal a child in violation of another person's right of possession of or access to the child;?xml:namespace prefix = u1 /u1:p/u1:p?xml:namespace prefix = o /o:p/o:p/pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"u1:pspan style="font-size:+0;"/span/u1:pspan style="font-size:+0;"/span(3)span style="font-size:+0;" /spanlacks financial reason to stay in the st1:country-region st="on"st1:country-region st="on"United States/st1:country-region/st1:country-region, including evidence that the parent is financially independent, is able to work outside of the st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"United States/st1:place/st1:country-region/st1:place/st1:country-region, or is unemployed;u1:p/u1:po:p/o:p/pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"u1:pspan style="font-size:+0;"/span/u1:pspan style="font-size:+0;"/span(4)span style="font-size:+0;" /spanhas recently engaged in planning activities that could facilitate the removal of the child from the st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"United States/st1:place/st1:country-region/st1:place/st1:country-region by the parent, including:u1:p/u1:po:p/o:p/pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"u1:pspan style="font-size:+0;"/span/u1:pspan style="font-size:+0;"/span(A)span style="font-size:+0;" /spanquitting a job;span style="font-size:+0;" /spanspan style="font-size:+0;"/spano:p/o:p/pu1:p style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"/u1:pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"span style="font-size:+0;"/span(B)span style="font-size:+0;" /spanselling a primary residence;span style="font-size:+0;" /spanspan style="font-size:+0;"/spanspan style="font-size:+0;"/spano:p/o:p/pu1:p style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"/u1:pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"span style="font-size:+0;"/span(C)span style="font-size:+0;" /spanterminating a lease;span style="font-size:+0;" /spanspan style="font-size:+0;"/spano:p/o:p/pu1:p style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"/u1:pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"span style="font-size:+0;"/span(D)span style="font-size:+0;" /spanclosing bank accounts;span style="font-size:+0;" /spanspan style="font-size:+0;"/spanspan style="font-size:+0;"/spano:p/o:p/pu1:p style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"/u1:pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"span style="font-size:+0;"/span(E)span style="font-size:+0;" /spanliquidating other assets;span style="font-size:+0;" /spanspan style="font-size:+0;"/spano:p/o:p/pu1:p style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"/u1:pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"span style="font-size:+0;"/span(F)span style="font-size:+0;" /spanhiding or destroying documents;span style="font-size:+0;" /spanspan style="font-size:+0;"/spanspan style="font-size:+0;"/spano:p/o:p/pu1:p style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"/u1:pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"span style="font-size:+0;"/span(G)span style="font-size:+0;" /spanapplying for a passport or visa for the parent or the child;span style="font-size:+0;" /spanorspan style="font-size:+0;" /spanspan style="font-size:+0;"/spano:p/o:p/pu1:p style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"/u1:pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"span style="font-size:+0;"/span(H)span style="font-size:+0;" /spanapplying to obtain the child's birth certificate or school or medical records;u1:p /u1:p/pp class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"span style="font-size:+0;"/span(5)span style="font-size:+0;" /spanhas a history of domestic violence that the court is required to consider under Section 153.004;span style="font-size:+0;" /spanoru1:p /u1:p/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"span style="font-size:+0;"/span(6)span style="font-size:+0;" /spanhas a criminal history or a history of violating court orders.? /span/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"If, based on the above factors, the trial court finds that there is "credible evidence of a risk of abduction of the child," the statute requires the court to also consider the following factors in order to evaluate that risk:u1:po:p/o:p/u1:p/span/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"(1) Whether the parent has strong familial, emotional, or cultural ties to another country, particularly a country that is not a signatory to or compliant with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction; andu1:po:p/o:p/u1:p/span/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"(2) whether the parent lacks strong ties to the st1:country-region st="on"st1:country-region st="on"United States/st1:country-region/st1:country-region, regardless of whether the parent is a citizen or permanent resident of the st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"United States/st1:place/st1:country-region/st1:place/st1:country-region.u1:po:p/o:p/u1:p/span/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"The evidence at trial showed that the husband had once enrolled the child in school in Texas without the wife's knowledge and had listed his first ex-wife as the emergency contact; that the wife was afraid husband would kidnap the child and return to Bulgaria, where both parties were born; that the wife claimed that her husband was a millionaire in Bulgaria; that he had traveled to Bulgaria three times in the preceding two years; that the husband had a history of threats, harassment, and domestic violence and had been convicted of harassment; that he claimed income far less than his expenses; and that he had not paid child support. o:p/o:p/span/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"There was no evidence of any actual threat to take the child to st1:place st="on"st1:country-region st="on"st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"Bulgaria/st1:place/st1:country-region/st1:country-region/st1:place.u1:po:p/o:p/u1:p/span/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"Nonetheless the appellate court concluded that ?there is sufficient evidence to support the trial court's finding of a potential risk of international abduction of the child by husband, and, therefore, the trial court did not abuse its discretion.?/spano:pbr //o:p/p

Full post as published by International Family Law on May 06, 2008 (boomark / email).