International child custody disputes are some of the most difficult for parents because of all the jurisdictional obstacles that may arise. These cases can last for months and even years, and Texas parents who want to see their children again will need experienced legal support.
A Texas man was recently victorious in an international dispute after a state district judge ruled that the mother of the man’s child should return the little girl to the father’s custody. The dispute dates back to 2010 when the father accused the mother of parental kidnapping after she left for England with the child.
The parents are not married, and an English court initially threw out the father’s request for child custody. The case then came back to Collin County, where a court also denied the father’s request.
The father took his case to an appeals court in Dallas, and that court returned the case to Collin County, where the father’s legal team apparently offered evidence that wasn’t presented in the earlier hearings. The mother failed to appear in the most recent Collin County hearing, and she was ordered to return the child to the father. Her failure to do so could result in a charge of contempt of court.
According to a report, the newly presented evidence was linked to a 2010 police investigation in Plano. Apparently there were email records regarding the mother’s abducting the child. (We wrote last week about how email and other forms of social media can play a part in family law cases.)
The outcome of this dispute remains to be seen. If the mother doesn’t return the child, then the father may have to take more legal steps to enforce the child custody order.
Source: Star-Telegram, “Judge orders child be returned to her father in Texas,” Mitch Mitchell, Aug. 30, 2013
