MK Family Law

On February 11, 2021, in the unpublished opinion of Minkiewitz v. Becker , the Court of Appeal of California affirmed the return of a minor child to Mexico under the Hague Abduction Convention.   The parties are parents to a 7-year-old son, all are U.S. citizens, and were living on their boat docked in Marina del Rey, California.  In December 2016, the family set sail for Mexico, and by January 2017, the family had set up residency in Mexico, where they moored their boat. They enrolled their son in school, he was learning Spanish, but they continued to drive back to Los Angeles for his medical care, so they maintained insurance for cars registered in the United States. The parents acquired the necessary permits and visas to reside in Mexico indefinitely, and while the visas were only temporary, they continued to renew them, and the father applied for permanent residency.  The father had bank accounts in both countries, and the family enjoyed entertainment and sociali...

In Avendano v. Balza , the First Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court's refusal to return G, a minor child, to Venezuela on the basis that G was mature, and objected to the return.  The Petitioner Mother appeals the court's finding on two points. Point one : Petitioner argues the court wrongly concluded the child was mature The trial judge did not commit clear error when concluding that the child was mature.  The trial judge had examined a variety of witnesses who had observed the minor child's demeanor, heard testimony from the child's Guardian Ad Litem , and had even interviewed the minor child personally in the GAL's office before concluding that the child's desires were "very clear, consistent, and rational" and that he not only stated a preference for the United States, but clearly objected to being returned to Venezuela.  The Court rejected the Petitioner's argument that the Court should have examined the child's maturity at the time ...

The recent 1980 Hague Abduction case of De Carvalho v. Carvalho Pereira focused on two key issues: the children's habitual residence and whether the children were now settled in the United States.  The District Court of Appeal of Florida affirmed the trial court's order to return both children to Brazil.   The family, in this case, moved to Florida in January 2016 for the Father's short-term medical fellowship in a U.S. hospital, and for the Mother to give birth to the parties' second child on U.S. soil.  A few months later, and after the 2nd child's birth, the Father's fellowship fell through, so he returned to Brazil to prepare the family home for everyone's return.  He sent return plane tickets to his family, but the Mother decided (on or about April 5, 2016) she was remaining in the United States, with the children, and wished to divorce.   The trial court concluded that neither parent intended to permanently relocate the family to the United Stat...