Child Abduction

If on the occasion of a separation or divorce, one spouse wishes to return to their country of origin, the question is raised as to whether they are able to take the matrimonial children with them or whether they must first wait for a custody order to be issued by the family court in the country of residence.
If one parent then decides to commit an act of fait accompli by taking the child without the agreement of the other parent, then this parent is entitled to take legal action for the return of the child on the basis of the Hague International Convention on Child Abduction or the European Convention on the Custody of Children.

These conventions are both based on the principle that the unlawful taking of a child to another country must always be reversed first and that the custody decision should be made in the previous country of residence.

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office which, according to the convention, administers the tasks of the central authorities in the event of abductions to Germany, will try and apply this principle, meaning the return to the other country, while the local youth welfare offices are more likely to express a preference for the child to remain in Germany, from the point of view of the interests of the child and for continuity reasons.

In the event of international child abduction, for the parent who is not in agreement with the relocation of the child, it is also important to complete the return proceedings quickly in order to prevent a consolidation of the change which has occurred. A lot depends on ensuring that the cooperation with the central authorities in the country of refuge is as smooth as possible.