International child abduction cases are more common than many people realize. A recent post in this blog told the story of a Colorado man who fought for years to bring his daughters home after their mother took them to Argentina in defiance of a court order. Parents whose children are illegally taken to a foreign country can be devastated by grief and may feel their situation is hopeless. Fortunately, there are legal processes available to prevent international child abduction, and to bring children home when it occurs.
Colorado is one of the states that has enacted the Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act, which gives courts and law enforcement agencies powerful tools to prevent a parental abduction. When there is a credible risk of child abduction, the court can place travel restrictions on the child and notify the State Department to watch for any passport application on the child’s behalf. If the threat appears immediate, police can go to the other parent’s home and take the children into the custody of the court.
Many countries, including the U.S., are signatories to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This international agreement obligates participating nations to cooperate in sending children back to their home countries when they have been illegally abducted by a parent.
Fighting to bring kids home after an international abduction is not always easy. It takes determination and persistence to fight the bureaucracy and delays that are inherent in dealing with a foreign government. The law firm of Shea L. Burchill, P.C. fights aggressively to reunite parents with children who have been wrongfully taken from them. To learn more about how we can help when a child custody dispute tears a family apart, visit our Longmont Child Custody Lawyer web page.
