Child custody is a frequent concern for parents in Texas and across the country who are no longer together but share a child. This issue can be exacerbated if one of the parents leaves the United States with the child. Enforcing a child custody order can be difficult if there is an international custody dispute. Those who are concerned about this or are dealing with it need to understand their child custody rights.
A Texas man and his ex-wife are embroiled in a child custody dispute over their son. The child, who is 6, is alleged to have been abducted by his mother and taken to Brazil in 2013. The father says that the mother took the child to Brazil to attend a wedding and she never returned. He discovered that his wife had enrolled the child in school there. She also found a job and moved forward with a petition in that country to receive full custody. It was granted.
The father has been allowed to have partial visitation with the child, and he travels to Brazil every two months to see him. The man says that his ex-wife has altered documents to obscure that she abducted the child without the his approval. In Texas, the judicial system has found that the child’s whereabouts were concealed in an illegal manner. The Brazilian court agreed that the child had been removed from the United States illegally. The judge in Brazil, however, decided that the child should stay there with his mother. The man has cited international law to have the child brought back, but that will require intervention on the part of the U.S. government and the father is pursuing that avenue to have his child brought back to him.
There are numerous issues related to child custody that can arise when an estranged couple shares a child. One of the most heart-wrenching and difficult to navigate is if there is an alleged international abduction. Those who are involved in a child custody dispute have the option to get help from an experienced attorney.
Source: CBS News, “Dad battles for custody of son, says ex-wife illegally abducted him,” Nov. 17, 2015