Custody & Kidnapping

Whether or not a person can leave the state with his/her children is a complicated legal question. It depends on a lot of different factors and we strongly recommend that you talk to a lawyer in OLD STATE who specializes in custody before making any decisions. You can find a link for lawyers, some of which are free or low-cost on our Finding a Lawyer page. [HYPERLINK]

In general, when people are legally married, most states consider the parents to have equal rights to the child so that either parent may be able to have the child in his/her possession. However, many states have parental kidnapping/custodial interference laws that apply to married couples as well as unmarried couples that may prohibit certain behaviors (such as concealing the whereabouts of the child, for example). We have the custodial interference law for STATE [GO TO CRIMES PAGE, FIND CUSTODIAL INTERFERENCE LAW AND CLICK ON IT, THEN LINK TO THE STATUTE] on our website so you can see the language of the law. However, these types of laws are hard to interpret and easy to misinterpret. We suggest getting legal advice about how it does or does not apply to your situation before relying upon it. As you may know, if someone is convicted of custodial interference, aside from possibly getting jail time, they may lose custody of their child in civil court because judges often don’t take too favorably to parents who flee the country with their child. Again, you may want to think through the pros and cons specific to your situation with a local attorney.

Often when a parent wants to move, they need to file for custody and get permission from the judge to relocate. Sometimes, however, it is difficult for a parent to get permission if moving will limit the other parent’s ability to see the child. I do not know the likelihood of getting permission to live in another country with the child. If you plan on filing in court, you may want to ask an attorney how to prove to the judge that moving is in the child’s best interest. Some possible things parents may generally show as reasons for a move are that the parent and child would be in a better economic or professional situation; that there is extended family support there; the neighborhood is safer; the child would be attending a better school, etc. In terms of your specific situation, you may want to get an attorney to advise you on how to best present your argument for moving, what information you can gather to help your case, etc. Here is a link for custody information in STATE [HYPERLINK] if you want to read more about it.

Also, in general, if a parent leaves without a court order, either parent can usually file for custody in the state where they were living during the next 6 months. The parent who moved may have to return to that state for the court dates. It is possible that a judge might even rule that the children have to stay in the state where the case was filed during the court proceedings or for longer if the permission to move is ultimately denied. Again, it is generally best to talk to a lawyer before moving if possible to be sure you aren’t breaking any laws by trying to move your children to a new country.