Forced Marriage is a Crime Against Humanity
Blog We have just read the appeal judgment of the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone in a case entitled Prosecutor v. Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara and Santigie Borbor Kanu. For international family lawyers the judgment is significant in that the court ruled that forced marriage constitutes a crime against […]
Fifth Circuit’s Hague Abduction Convention Ruling
Blog The Fifth Circuit has followed the Second Circuit’s ruling in Croll v. Croll and has ruled that a “ne exeat” right does not constitute a “right of custody” for the purposes of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. (Abbott v. Abbott, handed down on 9/16/08). The case concerned a British father […]
RUSSIA: “Lawful” Child Kidnapping
Blog The article below in today’s Daily Telegraph illustrates the grave dangers that may arise when children visit Russia: An 11-year-old British girl has been left stranded in Russia after her biological father obtained a Court Order preventing her from leaving the country until she is 18. Victoria Osborne, who was visiting her grandmother in Saratov with her mother Tatiana, […]
Jersey, Channel Islands Case Favors Spouse with Offshore Trusts
Blog The Royal Court in Jersey, Channel Islands has issued a key ruling in favor of a wealthy Indian jewelry magnate with substantial assets in offshore trusts, in a case known as Mubarak v Mubarak.The Court ruled that assets held in offshore trusts could be released to ex-spouses only if the trustees had the power to do so: The Financial […]
Korea Okays Sex During Divorce
Blog Korea’s top court has ruled that sexual relations outside marriage committed during consensual divorce proceedings was not a criminal act. Under current Korean law, adulterous relations are considered a criminal act and those found guilty can receive jail sentences of up to two years. The Supreme Court overruled a lower court’s conviction of a 57-year-old […]
Israeli court: Husband who refused divorce must pay damages
Blog The Jerusalem Family Court (Judge Ben Zion Greenberger) has reportedly ordered a husband who refused to give his wife a divorce for nine years to pay damages of approximately $160,000. In an unprecedented ruling, the judge said that even if a husband is not required by the court to give his wife a divorce, he […]
Credit crunch raises divorce rate for America’s superwealthy
Blog London Times article citing me and other N.Y. lawyers: The Times, July 11, 2008 Tom Bawden in New York America’s credit crunch is putting the squeeze on the marriages of New York’s superwealthy as a record number of couples with $10 million or more in assets sue for divorce. The New York lawyer Raoul Felder, […]
International Child Visitation to Colombia
Blog We represented the mother in successfully defeating the Hague International Child Abduction Convention portion of this case in North Carolina. International child-custody case settled A boy, 12, will live in the U.S. with his mother. His father can visit but can’t take the boy to visit Colombiaagainst his will. A custody tug-of-war spanning two continents was settled Monday in Durham County court […]
Australian Child Relocation & Abduction Problems
Blog There seems to be a rash of child abductions out of Australia — although perhaps this is simply because many Australian cases are coming my way. My theory is that it is partly a result of the recent changes in Australian child custody law. The main and eminently laudable objective of the 2006 amendments to Australia’s […]
Canada: Divorced Couples Must Share Marital Debt
Blog Just as divorced couples sometimes share future assets, they also should have to share future debts tied to the marriage, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled yesterday. The 6-1 decision puts a Vancouver woman on the hook for part of her former husband’s unascertainable tax liability arising from tax shelters he bought during their marriage. […]