Family custody issues can lead to many problems for divorced parents. In some cases, those who don’t like the outcome of a court ruling could decide to leave with their children, essentially restricting one parent’s right to see his children. That’s what had happened in this case that has, for now, been resolved.
In 2010, a woman took her children, two little girls, to Argentina, where she’s a native. At the time of the abduction, the two girls were only 2 and 4 years old. Their father was still in Colorado, left with a legal battle to get his girls back.
In the original court case, the woman had fought to take her children to Buenos Aires. The courts disagreed and ruled that their father would have primary custody in the United States. Just three weeks later, the woman and her daughters ended up in Buenos Aires against the judge’s orders.
Even with the help of Argentina’s government, which is part of an agreement called the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, the legal battle still went on for years due to the girls’ mother filing appeals within the court system. Finally, on April 13, the Supreme Court of Argentina ruled in the father’s favor to return the girls to the United States and his custody.
There are problems now, though, because the young 6-year-old is unable to speak English fluently, and she has difficulties speaking with her father. Both girls may be confused by their uprooting, too. Sadly, in this situation, the legal battle isn’t over; a judge must now decide how much time and what kind of access the girls’ mother can have. She traveled back to Colorado where she awaits a ruling.
Source: WLKY.com, “Dad brings daughters home after legal battle,” Elizabeth Stuart and Ana Cabrera, CNN, May. 06, 2015