Child Abduction and Overseas Clients

At The Norton Law Group we regularly represent overseas clients, having represented clients based in various countries throughout Asia, Europe and the U.S, not only in Hague Convention applications for the safe return of children abducted to or from Australia, but also in complex property applications or children related matters.
Not all countries have signed the Hague Convention, particularly in Asia or the Middle East, and when courts are considering whether to give permission for an overseas trip, the Hague status of the destination can be very relevant to the outcome. The important protection of the Hague Convention is that normally decisions about the child will be made by the courts of the country of
normal residence. So, for example, if an Australian child, living with the mother in Australia, is not returned to Australia by, say, an American father after a holiday in America, the American courts would send the child back to Australia for our courts to make a decision about changes to the parenting arrangements.
If a proposed destination is not a Hague convention country, courts may require some financial security against the child’s return, and if there had been threats to relocate a child in such a country, permission to travel might well be very hard to obtain.