U.S. Child Custody Jurisdiction: UCCJEA v. The Rest of the World
Blog The courts in most countries have jurisdiction to modify prior child custody orders if the child is now habitually or ordinarily resident there, even if the original order was issued by a foreign court. The United States follows completely different rules. The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction & Enforcement Act (the “UCCJEA”) provides that once […]
Court Orders Korean Dad to Return Children to Separated Japanese Wife
Blog South Korea because the 89th contracting state to the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction in March of 2013. The Convention came into effect between the United States and Korea in November of 2013. The U.S. Department of State, in its 2015 Annual Report on International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA), made little mention of Korea, reporting […]
Thailand – Child Abduction Update
Blog The Hague Conference on Private International Law reports that the United States accepted Thailand’s accession to the Hague Abduction Convention on January 26, 2016 and that the treaty will enter force between the U.S. and Thailand with effect from April 1, 2016. Thailand acceded to the Convention in 2002 but the United States had […]
Law-Shopping & Forum-Shopping in International Prenuptial Agreements
Blog Drafting prenuptial agreements is always challenging but the complexities are greatly magnified when the clients are international, whether in their citizenship, the location of assets, their employment or their residency, or because such international connections are anticipated or reasonably on the horizon. In such situations lawyers have a responsibility to consider the impact of […]
Will The Philippines Accede to the Hague Abduction Convention?
Blog The Philippines is currently determining whether to accede to the Hague Abduction Convention. The Philippines’ Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee has created a special Subcommittee on the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. The Chair of the Subcommittee, Senator Loren Legarda, has reported that her subcommittee supported the accession to the treaty. She said that: […]
Australian Court Allows Visit to Russia
Blog An Australian court has ordered the Russian mother of an Australian child may take the child for annual visits to Russia despite the objections of the Australian father who asserted that although the Federation of Russia is a state party to the Hague Abduction Convention there are practical difficulties associated with its enforcement of […]
Some Guidelines for Negotiating and Drafting Prenuptial Agreements for Parties with a U.S. Connection
Blog 1. Disclosure, disclosure, disclosure. Disclosure cures many sins – but certainly not all. 2. Independent representation. Cures many more sins, and is absolutely required in some – but not most – states. 3. Time gap prior to marriage. Usually not legally required (but see California, for example) but it is good practice. 4. Voluntariness. In a Massachusetts […]
Prenuptial Agreements: Choice of Court Clauses
Blog A “choice of court” clause allows the parties to select the forum whose courts will have jurisdiction to interpret and implement the agreement. This can be extremely useful, because the parties know in advance which court is supposed to handle their case. It also enhances the choice of law clause since the chosen court […]
Which Law Governs a Prenuptial Agreement in a U.S. Court?
Blog Which law governs a prenuptial agreement in a U.S. court? That simple and critically important question unfortunately has no simple answer. Is it the law selected by the parties? The law of the forum? The law of the place where the agreement was negotiated and/or executed? The law of the place that had the […]
U.S. Prenuptial Agreements: Two basic standards – Fairness & Unconscionability?
Blog 1. Unconscionability New York is an example of an unconscionability state. “Considering all the provisions of the pre-nuptial agreement, the court also cannot say that it is so unfair ‘as to shock the conscience and confound the judgment of any [person] of common sense.’” Crowther v. Crowther, 27 Misc.3d 1211(A), 910 N.Y.S.2d 404 (Table) (N.Y.Sup.2010). A […]