That can be addressed in their parental allocation judgment. A good lawyer will add possibilities into that judgment, such as if they’re going to go out of town or out of the state. They have to give notice and they have to give a certain amount of time. They have to make those plans so far in advance. Who has the passport? There’s a bunch of stuff that goes with that. When the client comes in, you want to make sure that they bring anything to your attention that might be different.
As an example, I have a client that’s from India. Her husband’s from Pakistan, which is unusual to have an Indian marry a Pakistani person. But in this case, it’s two separate countries. They both want to go back to their country. They’re both terrified that the other parent isn’t going to return the kid. So, in those kinds of situations, the first thing you’re going to do is look at a treaty called the Hague Convention, and we’re going to see which countries are in that. If they’re in that, we can get the kid back, and if they’re not, it’s going to be hell to get the kid back. We want to be really, really on top of the facts of each case.
With 30 years of experience in family law, Laura M. Urbik Kern is a certified mediator and family lawyer who concentrates on dissolution, family and juvenile law, child support, and complex domestic relations cases.
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