Parent fleeing country

[alize117]

My inquiry involves New York Custody Law.
I am currently dating a man who has a one-year old daughter. He presently still resides with the child's mother but has been actively searching for his own place. According to the wait list, a studio apartment in his complex will not be available until Spring 2001. He wants to remain in the same complex in order to stay close to his daughter. He and the baby's mother have not been together since January 2000 and we started dating around September 2000.
The baby's mother is aware that he and I are seeing one another and is apparently not very pleased. She realized that the best way to hurt him is through the child. Recently, she told his mother that she is planning on leaving the country to go to Jamaica with the child without him knowing. Instead, he's going to walk in the door one day and find her and his daughter missing.
My question is "Can he prevent her from fleeing the country with their child without his consent?" Neither party has filed for custody because he felt that they would have been able to work things out on their own. He's becoming frustrated with the situation and wants to know what are his legal rights to stop her without actually having her arrested for kidnapping when she decides to leave the United States and return to Jamaica.
I have failed to mention that the father is an Amerian born citizen as well as the child.

 

[Illinois Parent]

Check this site: http://www.missingkids.com. You can also call 1-800-THE-LOST - the phone number for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which also has an International Division. They are the single best source for information and help.

The answer to your question is yes, that would be considered kidnapping, if there is a custody decision. In the absence of a standing order, either parent can do as they please with the child. Legally, both parents have equal rights where the child is concerned. In reality, if one parent skips town, or the country with the child and without the consent of the other parent, a charge of kidnapping could be filed against the fleeing parent in absentia. After, of course, an emergency custody hearing has granted custody to the left behind parent.

At that point, the parent that has fled is usually given a window of time in which to return with the child and not be charged with Parental Kidnapping. If they do not return, it is a Federal Felony charge. Additionally, under the terms of something called the Hague Convention, the left behind parent can petition the government of the country where the child is staying, and seek repatriation. That is, of course if Jamaica is a signatory of the Hague, which the NCMEC would know.

In the meantime, the best thing that your boyfriend could do would be to seek an emergency hearing based on this threat. The mother would then be barred from leaving the country with the child; any passport in the child's name would be flagged; and she would be duly notified of the illegality of her intended action. The other thing working in your favor is that even without a custody decree, it would be very difficult for her to leave the country with the child without his consent.

Anyone, especially a citizen, of Jamaica wishing to travel there with a minor child needs to have a notarized consent form signed by the non-travelling parent giving them permission to travel with the child. Airlines are pretty sticky about this, as they are financially responsible to both the US and Jamaican governments as well as potentially liable to the left behind parent if they allow someone to travel with improper or incomplete documents.

All of the above information is from personal experience and knowledge gained over the past 9 years. Please contact the NCMEC as well as a local attorney for local law.