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Parental kidnapping and parental rights

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january00

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kansas -

I'm a Newbie so be patient. I'll try to keep this brief.

My ex and I were never married, but we have a daughter born in 2002 in Kansas. I did sign the declaration of paternity at the hospital, and I am on the birth certificate. We have never had child support/custody in place, it has always been by mutual agreement.

In February 2006 she took a job relocation to Canada. I agreed to let my daughter go since my Ex told me it was only for 2 years. I go with my Ex to apply for a passport for our daughter. In May 2006, I relocated from Kansas to Texas for a job relocation of my current spouse. In the beginning, the communication and visitation continued with my Ex and my daugher. My Ex had even arragend to meet me in in Oklahoma in the summer of 2006 when she returned to the U.S. to visit her parents. I last saw my daughter at Christmas 2006 when visiting Kansas over the holidays. Since then, the communication gradually became less and less. My Ex stopped answering my calls, she moved to a new residence in Montreal, she screens her calls at work, she changed her cell phone number. I assume she has extended her employment in Montreal, but it has gotten to the point that I don't even know how or where to contact my Ex or my daughter.

I am completely confused about why my Ex has done this. We have no violent past, no abuse, I have no criminal history, there were no arguments. She just disappeared.

I've given information to the FBI, and filed a Hague Application for my daughter's return with the U.S. Department of State and the Canadian Royal Mounted Police. I've also listed her with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. However, all this burocracy is slow.

I don't know what to do next. Higher a Kansas attorney, since that is where she was born (I'm still living in Texas, and my wife and I have since had two more children)? But even with that, I don't know that they can do much at this time, since there is no custody in place, and I can't file for a custody/visitation order until she is located. Do I even have any rights at this point since I don't have an order in place, besides paternity and the birth certificate?
 
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Banned_Princess

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kansas -

I'm a Newbie so be patient. I'll try to keep this brief.

My ex and I were never married, but we have a daughter born in 2002 in Kansas. I did sign the declaration of paternity at the hospital, and I am on the birth certificate. We have never had child support/custody in place, it has always been by mutual agreement.

In February 2006 she took a job relocation to Canada. I agreed to let my daughter go since my Ex told me it was only for 2 years. I go with my Ex to apply for a passport for our daughter. In May 2006, I relocated from Kansas to Texas for a job relocation of my current spouse. In the beginning, the communication and visitation continued with my Ex and my daugher. My Ex had even arragend to meet me in in Oklahoma in the summer of 2006 when she returned to the U.S. to visit her parents. I last saw my daughter at Christmas 2006 when visiting Kansas over the holidays. Since then, the communication gradually became less and less. My Ex stopped answering my calls, she moved to a new residence in Montreal, she screens her calls at work, she changed her cell phone number. I assume she has extended her employment in Montreal, but it has gotten to the point that I don't even know how or where to contact my Ex or my daughter.

I am completely confused about why my Ex has done this. We have no violent past, no abuse, I have no criminal history, there were no arguments. She just disappeared.

I've given information to the FBI, and filed a Hague Application for my daughter's return with the U.S. Department of State and the Canadian Royal Mounted Police. I've also listed her with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. However, all this burocracy is slow.

I don't know what to do next. Higher a Kansas attorney, since that is where she was born (I'm still living in Texas, and my wife and I have since had two more children)? But even with that, I don't know that they can do much at this time, since there is no custody in place, and I can't file for a custody/visitation order until she is located. Do I even have any rights at this point since I don't have an order in place, besides paternity and the birth certificate?

I seriously doubt it... You would have needed to be found in a court of law to be the father and custody / child support all set up for you to even claim this to be a kidnapping at all, I mean at this point you are just a name on a paper....

I could be wrong, and if I am I will certainly be corrected.

Sorry.
 

january00

Junior Member
I seriously doubt it... You would have needed to be found in a court of law to be the father and custody / child support all set up for you to even claim this to be a kidnapping at all, I mean at this point you are just a name on a paper....

I could be wrong, and if I am I will certainly be corrected.

Sorry.
The kidnapping issue I'm pretty clear on, thanks to the National Center for Exploited and Missing children:

National Child Search Assistance Act (42 USC 5779 and 5778)
Passed in 1990, this law forbids all law enforcement agencies in the country from establishing any waiting period before accepting a missing child report. In addition, the act requies the immediate entry of each report into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) computer and does not limit the instigation of a missing child report and investigation to the custodial parent.


However, I have run into some difficulty educating law enforcement agencies on this issue. It is slow going. Often I've had to get the Center for Missing and Exploited Children involved as a mediator, and it goes back and forth, back and forth, contributing to an already slow process.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kansas -

I'm a Newbie so be patient. I'll try to keep this brief.

My ex and I were never married, but we have a daughter born in 2002 in Kansas. I did sign the declaration of paternity at the hospital, and I am on the birth certificate. We have never had child support/custody in place, it has always been by mutual agreement.

In February 2006 she took a job relocation to Canada. I agreed to let my daughter go since my Ex told me it was only for 2 years. I go with my Ex to apply for a passport for our daughter. In May 2006, I relocated from Kansas to Texas for a job relocation of my current spouse. In the beginning, the communication and visitation continued with my Ex and my daugher. My Ex had even arragend to meet me in in Oklahoma in the summer of 2006 when she returned to the U.S. to visit her parents. I last saw my daughter at Christmas 2006 when visiting Kansas over the holidays. Since then, the communication gradually became less and less. My Ex stopped answering my calls, she moved to a new residence in Montreal, she screens her calls at work, she changed her cell phone number. I assume she has extended her employment in Montreal, but it has gotten to the point that I don't even know how or where to contact my Ex or my daughter.

I am completely confused about why my Ex has done this. We have no violent past, no abuse, I have no criminal history, there were no arguments. She just disappeared.

I've given information to the FBI, and filed a Hague Application for my daughter's return with the U.S. Department of State and the Canadian Royal Mounted Police. I've also listed her with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. However, all this burocracy is slow.

I don't know what to do next. Higher a Kansas attorney, since that is where she was born (I'm still living in Texas, and my wife and I have since had two more children)? But even with that, I don't know that they can do much at this time, since there is no custody in place, and I can't file for a custody/visitation order until she is located. Do I even have any rights at this point since I don't have an order in place, besides paternity and the birth certificate?
Dad, you actually really didn't have the right to do any of the bolded. You were not married to the child's mother and you never went to court to establish any kind of custody or visitation for you. Therefore, mom, as an unwed mother has sole legal and physical custody by default. You have no rights at all. Listing the child with the Center for Missing or Exploited Children was a particularly VILE thing to do...get rid of that listing IMMEDIATELY. Also, getting the FBI and the Canadian police involved and filling out a Hague application could get you in serious legal trouble yourself.

In fact, under the Hague Convention the US no longer has any juridiction over the child, because the child has resided in Canada for more than two years.

Your child is NOT missing. Your child is NOT kidnapped. Your child is with her mother who is the only parent with any kind of custody of the child.

Dad, you need to get the advice of an attorney before you do ANYTHING else.

Did you even tell the Center for Missing and Exploited Children that you were an unwed father with no kind of custody of the child? I can see you ending up in a serious world of hurt over all of this.
 
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Banned_Princess

Senior Member
Now that I am sure I was right, I am horrified, and disturbed that you could falsely claim this child kidnapped and exploited, just that easy.

Get a lawyer NOW.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Now that I am sure I was right, I am horrified, and disturbed that you could falsely claim this child kidnapped and exploited, just that easy.

Get a lawyer NOW.
This whole situation is incredibly disturbing on all kinds of levels...and I am seriously worried that dad didn't really create this situation himself. I am seriously worried that dad's new wife created this situation and potentially put her husband in a word of hurt.

Or...that this whole thread is a possible Troll.

Its just a bad bad situation.
 

Antigone*

Senior Member
This whole situation is incredibly disturbing on all kinds of levels...and I am seriously worried that dad didn't really create this situation himself. I am seriously worried that dad's new wife created this situation and potentially put her husband in a word of hurt.

Or...that this whole thread is a possible Troll.

Its just a bad bad situation.
My troll radar went off at 8am on this one ~ big time!!!
 

Proserpina

Senior Member
This whole situation is incredibly disturbing on all kinds of levels...and I am seriously worried that dad didn't really create this situation himself. I am seriously worried that dad's new wife created this situation and potentially put her husband in a word of hurt.

Or...that this whole thread is a possible Troll.

Its just a bad bad situation.
Oh no....oh I hope to gawd you're wrong!!!!

(that didn't even occur to me - but now that you've mentioned it....)

I guess we're all hoping for troll then?
 

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