Custody & Kidnapping

THIS IS WRITTEN TO SOMEONE ABOUT HER SISTER - CHANGE ALL WORDS IN BRACKETS TO APPLY:

Do you know if the custody order gives [your sister] specific visitation days/times? And does [your sister] regularly use the visits? If so, and [the father] moved out of state, would [he] still be able to bring the child to those visitation times? In other words, is the visitation weekly (which may be hard to continue if the child moves) or is it something where the visitation is only in the summer or school breaks (which may still be possible). Often, when there is a custody order in place where one parent has visitation, the other parent cannot just move out of state because then the custodial parent wouldn’t be able to present the child for the visitation and would be violating the order. The non-custodial parent may then file a violation/contempt petition in court if the parent moves or perhaps even before the parent moves based on concrete information that the parent is planning to move.

In general, another thing to consider is that some custody orders may include a provision about getting permission from the other parent to leave the state. Although I can’t speak to [your sister’s] specific situation, sometimes a parent who fears that the other parent may leave the state may be able to file something in court to ask the judge to amend the order to include a provision regarding the procedures for moving out of state. [IF WE HAVE A QU ABOUT NOTICE REQUIREMENTS OR STEPS TO RELOCATE, INTRODUCE AND LINK TO THAT QU]. Another possibility that sometimes is utilized when a parent is threatening to take a child and flee the country or take the child into hiding is that the concerned parent may ask the judge to order the other parent to post a bond (an amount of money) with the court, which could be utilized to recover the child if the threatening parent leaves with the child. However, this is often limited to situations where the parent is considered to be a “flight risk” and threatens to go into hiding with the child.

I cannot say if any of these options, or other options, may be appropriate in [your sister’s] case and so [she] may want to consult with a lawyer for advice. Hopefully a lawyer can tell [her] what steps [she] can take based on the threat that was made to move the child out of state and the evidence that [she] has of that threat. Here is a link for lawyers, some of which may be free or low-cost:LINK

Also, in some states, there may be a criminal custodial interference (parental kidnapping) law that prohibits one parent from concealing/hiding the child from the other parent or from leaving the state in violation of a custody order. We have the language of this law in your state on our website here: LINK However, custodial interference laws can be hard to interpret and easy to misinterpret and so we always recommend checking with a lawyer for help with interpreting the law.