Custody & Kidnapping

In general, if 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 also 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). The way that this often comes into play is that when parents are separated but there is no custody order, a “custodial” parent may bring the children to visit the other parent and that parent decides to keep the children with him/her. Since the law considers parents to have equal rights, even if the “custodial” parent tries to involve the police to get the children back, the police may not get involved since there may not be any laws being broken (since bother parents may be seen as having equal rights to keep the child). Often the police will inform the “custodial” parent to go to court to file for custody and an actual custody proceeding may begin where a judge decides which parent the children will live with. Often times, if a parent is afraid that the other parent may keep the child/ren after a visit, the parent may first choose to file a custody petition to try to get custody. Once there is a custody and visitation order in place, if a parent violates the terms of the order, there can be legal consequences.