Mahr – Islamic Marriage Contract – Held to be Not Enforceable
Blog An Ohio court has reportedly ruled that a promise made as part of a mahr – a dowry gift given by the groom to his bride upon an Islamic marriage – could not be enforced at law. The Ohio Case The case in Ohio stemmed from the marriage of a Muslim couple – the bride living in Ohio and the groom from Ireland. The bride’s father […]
Czech procedure for Hague Convention international child abduction cases
Blog International child abduction cases in the Czech Republic will be assigned to ten specially-selected judges at the Brno District and Brno Regional courts, if a bill that was presented by the Czech Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil is adopted. The bill would create internal Czech rules for such cases that are brought under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects […]
Germany’s Pattern of Noncompliance with Hague Child Abduction Convention
Blog In an open letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in May 2006, this author vehemently protested what he asserted was Germany’s noncompliance with its treaty obligations under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The letter focused on a pattern of lengthy delays and stalling that was preventing […]
Urgency required in child abduction cases
Blog The English courts — unlike the courts in many countries, including in many situations the United States — insist that child abduction cases are resolved expeditiously. In the European Union, following the entry into force of the Brussels II bis Regulation, there is now an obligation that the entire process of child abduction cases be completed […]
Prenuptial Agreement Upheld in Singapore
Blog The Singapore High Court has enforced a prenuptial agreement entered into in the Netherlands between a Swedish wife and a Dutch husband. TQ v. TR, [2007] SGHC 106; decision date July 11, 2007. The couple had lived together in England, had moved for a short time to the Netherlands, where they had married and executed the prenuptial agreement under […]
Pre-Nuptial Agreements: New York Tolls the Statute of Limitations
Blog The New York legislature has passed a law that clears up what had been an enormous problem concerning the enforcement of prenuptial agreements in New York. New Section 250 of the Domestic Relations Law now provides that the three year statute of limitations for commencing an action or asserting a defense that arises from a pre-nuptial or […]
International Child Visitation
Blog How can one parent stop the other parent from taking a child to visit a dangerous country? How can a parent make sure that a child will be returned if the other parent takes the child to visit his or her native country? Many international parents are justifiably becoming increasingly concerned about the answers […]
New Jersey Child Relocation to Japan
Blog The Supreme Court of New Jersey has unanimously upheld a decision allowing a Japanese mother to relocate with her six-year old child from their home in New Jersey to Okinawa, Japan over the strong objections of the American husband. The primary concern of the husband was that the provisions for his visitation with his daughter were unenforceable in Japan. MacKinnon v. […]
South Africa and the Hague Convention
Blog South Africa’s Court of Appeal has blasted the failure of the courts below to order the prompt return of a child, now aged five, who was wrongfully retained in South Africa away from his then habitual residence in the Netherlands by his mother for 3½ years. The Court ordered (June 4, 2007) that the child now be returned […]
London Program: “International Family Law for the Globetrotting Executive”
Blog The American Bar Association’s Section of International Law will hold its “Fall Meeting” at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London, England from October 3 – 6, 2007. A session entitled “International Family Law for the Globetrotting Executive” will be held on Thursday, October 4, 2007 from 4:00pm to 5:30pm chaired by Jeremy D. Morley, attorney-at-law in New […]