We Can Assist You in Regaining Custody of Your Child
The most difficult and emotional aspects of family law are parental child abduction and international parental kidnapping. It’s a complex issue since it frequently involves jurisdictional questions, such as who has the authority to enforce particular custody, access, parenting, or contact order. You’ll need an attorney who can defend your rights and help you reclaim your kid.
DivorceLawyers.ca Professional Corporation has a long track record of successfully assisting individuals in need all around the world in gaining or regaining their children from foreign jurisdictions that are not signatories to the Hague Convention on Child abduction.
What to do in the event of Parental Kidnapping
If your child is taken locally, the first thing you should do is contact local law enforcement. Then you’ll need to show that you have custodial or parenting time rights as a result of an order. A parent should always maintain a copy of the court order, separation agreement, or any other formal document demonstrating custody, access, parenting time and decision
There are also instances of children being abducted to another nation. When it comes to retrieving your youngster, international child abduction is a much more difficult situation.
Have you lost your kid to their other parent without cause? Don’t give up hope – our Ontario parental child abduction lawyers understand the importance of what’s at stake and how to take the appropriate actions. We’ll do everything we can to guarantee that your kid returns back home safely and swiftly.
Local Parental Abduction in Ontario, Canada
If the child is abducted in a local area, the matter can be settled through civil law courts. The court that will rule on the case will be chosen by a lawyer utilizing his or her legal skills and knowledge to determine where the kid is typically resident.
A habitually resided place for a minor can be determined under the Children’s Law Reform Act (CLRA), which is in force in Ontario. The term may be defined as the location where a kid lived with both parents, with one parent in accordance with a separation agreement, with one parent in accordance with implied consent or a court order, or other than a parent on a permanent basis when referring to an Ontario minor.
The court where the child is deemed to be habitually resident has the authority to safeguard the youngster, making decisions regarding his or her well-being. Local abduction may result in criminal charges being filed. Criminal charges can help authorities capture a kidnapped kid because warrants can be issued on occasion.
Parental Abduction Within Canada
DivorceLawyers.ca Professional Corporation can assist you in taking the required measures to get your child back from a province outside of Ontario if they were taken by your former spouse/part partner (or you fear that your kid will be kidnapped).
If you and your spouse are going through or have already gone through the divorce process, the relevant Act is the Divorce Act, 1985, R.S.C. If you’ve obtained a parenting order under s 20(2) to (3), it has legal force throughout Canada and can be enforced in any province once registered. As a result, if the order states that the kid isn’t to be taken out of country, enforcement of the order will generally entail their return.
You should always attempt to contact the police, who may assist you as well as a family lawyer who can educate and advise you regarding the relevant legislation and the procedure to follow.
Parental Kidnapping: How to Get Your Child Back
The custodial parent with reasonable and probable grounds for believing his or her kid is being unlawfully kept may file a lawsuit under s. 36(1) of the Children’s Law Reform Act for the child’s retrieval. If the court is satisfied that children are in danger and can be protected, it shall order that the custodial parent, a third party, or the police locate and return them. The court strictly follows these requirements for police apprehension: namely, there are reasonable and probable grounds.
In general, the courts will be reluctant to issue an order to direct the police to find and capture your child if you have only a suspicion that he or she would be abducted or kept against his or her will. The most common requirement is compelling and verifiable proof, such as plane tickets in the name of your spouse and child that you didn’t know about, or even a real estate deal in another province or country using your spouse’s name.
This is due in part to the courts’ unwillingness to use police force, since the prospect of regular location and child apprehension in such a distressing way is shocking unless it is absolutely essential.
What if my child is Abducted and I don’t have custody?
If you don’t have a parenting order and instead wish to establish an informal agreement that is unenforceable by the court, you should apply for a parenting order under s. 16(1) of the Divorce Act. More specifically, you should request that the court grant you full parenting time and decision-making authority, as well as include in the order a provision requiring that the kid be kept within Canada without your express consent.
When the court approves an order, it has legal force throughout Canada and is enforceable in every province in which it is filed. As a result, the next step in obtaining your kid back would be to register the order in the province where he or she was taken. After that, file a s36(1) application with the judge for her to order the return of your kid.
Parental Abduction by a Custodial Parent in Canada
If you are an access parent or have a contact order in place for the child, s. 16.1 (9) prevents the custodial parent from removing your kid without consent of any person and with a court order permitting removal. According to this provision, the court has the power to issue an order prohibiting the removal of a child from a specified geographic location without consent of any particular individual or without a court order allowing for removal.
The Children’s Law Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.12 governs circumstances where the parents of children are not divorced or thinking about divorce. They could be a legally married couple wanting to separt only, or they might only be the biological parents of the children; it doesn’t matter.)
Regardless of their circumstances, s. 20(1) of the Children’s Law Reform Act permits them to seek equal custody of their children. As a result, removing a child from Ontario without following an order from an Ontario court is not permitted.
Enforcing a Custody or Parenting Order After Parental Abduction
To ensure that your directive is carried out, you should submit it to the court of the province where your child has been abducted. If the provincial legislation is similar to Ontario’s, it should include provisions allowing for the enforcement of extra-provincial orders.
Furthermore, hiring a family attorney to assist you in the process of ensuring your child’s safe and secure return would be in your best interests. A family lawyer would fulfill the role of teaching and advising you on the law as well as ensuring that all of your papers/affairs are in order.
International Child Abduction
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (“the Hague Convention”) is a treaty that has been enacted into Ontario legislation as the CLRA.
The Wrongful Removal of a Child from One Jurisdiction to Another Country: This statute is concerned with the unlawful removal of a kid from one country to another; however, in order for this legislation to apply to the nation where the child was taken, that nation must be a signatory of the Hague Convention. Simply said, this implies that the
Most of Europe, Canada, and the United States have signed the Convention. There are now 89 signatory nations to the Convention, each of which is committed to returning illegally abducted youngsters to their natural homes, regardless of where they reside.
What is the Hague Convention?
The Hague Convention determines which court has jurisdiction to decide custody of the child by determining the court in which the child is habitually resident. The kid must be under the age of 16 to benefit from the legislation.
One element of this legislation is that it allows for the extraditing parent to be sent back to Canada; nevertheless, because there is no definition of “habitual residence” in the Hague Convention, international abduction circumstances are complex and the approach used is a wide one, examining each case on a case-by-case basis in order to arrive at an
Under the Hague Convention, parents have one year from the date of the wrongful removal or retention to ask for their child’s return and use the return procedure set forth by the Convention. A parent may still request the return of his or her kid after one year; however, if an abducting parent can show that he or she has settled the kid in
If a minor has been kidnapped to a non-Hague Contracting Party jurisdiction, the Hague Convention does not apply. Parents must work with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Consular Services instead.
The RCMP will collaborate with international agencies (such as INTERPOL) to find kidnapped youngsters. Parents will be assisted by Consular Services in connecting with the consulate in the overseas country so that procedures may begin abroad.
There are several non-governmental organizations that can assist parents in locating their children who have been wrongfully removed by the government. In Ontario, missingkids.ca is a resource for parents looking to locate a kidnapped child and arrange recovery services.
