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 […]
Passport for Abducted U.S. Children Overseas; Exigent or Special Family Circumstances
Blog Parents of children who are abducted to a foreign country, or who are being retained in a foreign country, often do not have their children’s passports that are needed to enable them to bring the children back to the United States. As part of our work in helping parents to get their kids back […]
Washington State Ruling: Egyptian Child Custody Law Violates Human Rights
Blog There is “clear and convincing evidence that Egyptian child custody laws violate fundamental principles of human rights.” Therefore, Washington State should not treat Egypt as a “state” for purposes of the Uniform Child Custody & Jurisdiction Act. So ruled the Superior Court of Washington for King County yesterday based on the expert evidence of […]
Look Before You Leap
Blog I feel the need to stress – yet again – that a parent or would-be parent who travels for an extended period of time overseas with a spouse or partner should think first about the possibility of your kids being required to stay overseas against your wishes in the event you have a disagreement […]
Collaboration with Lawyers Globally
Blog Thank you to so many of my colleagues in jurisdictions around the world for the great collaboration that we enjoyed throughout the past year in working together to handle interesting and important legal matters for appreciative clients. Together we prevented numerous international child abductions, recovered many internationally abducted children, protected children and parents in […]