Vanished Without A Trace – Managing Non-Hague Cases

It would be a parent's worst nightmare to find out that their child has been whisked away to another country. In many instances, this is not the act of a stranger, but by a spouse or ex-spouse during or after divorce proceedings. While the thought of a parent abducting his or her own child to another country may not seem terrifying to some, the forceful and unexpected relocation of one's child, and the constant fretting of the parent left behind are unnecessary causes of stress.

Cross-border child abduction is when a child has been wrongfully removed or retained by one parent, without the consent of the other parent, to a different jurisdiction.

The Hague Convention

In 1980, the United Nations introduced the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, otherwise known simply as the Hague Convention. The Convention serves as a multilateral treaty to ensure children abducted to another country are returned to their rightful parent or