Thursday, March 28, 2013

Divorce Judgments & International Child Abduction


Divorce lawyers will be adding additional required language to their judgments of divorce and parenting time provisions dealing with removing minor children to certain countries.
Recent Michigan legislation enacted on January 9, 2013, requires that parenting time provisions, most often found in judgments of divorce when minor children are involved and legal documents required in resolving custody disputes, must contain additional language addressing the prohibition on exercising parenting time in a country that is not in accord with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
The legislation, Public Act 600 of 2012, amends the Child Custody Act, MCL 7.22.27a, and requires the inclusion of specific proscriptions or a written consent by both parents, relative to removing the minor children to a country that has not signed the Hague Convention.   
Divorce attorneys must ensure that their judgments and parenting time documents now contain the required language.  The new required language is a simple addition and addresses a very important, and often overlooked, issue when it comes to parenting time taking place in another country.
We here at the Electronic Divorce Attorney recommend clicking on the following link to obtain more specific language about the Hague’sChild Abduction Section.  For information regarding the signatory countries to the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, check out the State Department website.
If you are handling your divorce or custody case without a lawyer, the State Court Administrative Office (SCAO) website has updated Michigan forms (FOC 67 and FOC 89) that include the newly required language.