MK Family Law

Some interesting issues arose in the case of MARG v. Texas Department of Family & Protective Services .  Third party caregivers were appointed as three (3) children's conservators (custodians) in Texas.  The child's mother, from whom the children were removed, was agreeable to the third parties having custody of the children.  At first, the father could not be located, and the children's mother told authorities that she did not know his location or have his contact details.  The father was appointed an attorney, and eventually was located.  He alerted the Texas authorities that the oldest child had been abducted by the Mother quite some time before, and he had no idea to where she took the child.  The second child was in utero at the time of the abduction.  (The third child is not his child). He claims to have filed a criminal kidnapping action in Guatemala, where he lives, along with a police report, and a filing with the local court.  In th...

In the Interest of Doe I,  467 P.3d 442 (2020),  two minor children were removed from their mother's care in Idaho after they were found homeless and living in a car.  Their biological father's whereabouts were unknown, but presumably he had been deported to Mexico several years earlier.  About one year after the proceedings were started, the father's paternity was established, after he was located in Mexico.  The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare began a placement plan to send the children to live with their father in Mexico.  The children's Guardian Ad Litem, however, requested more information about the father's living situation before agreeing to the placement.  The Department was having difficulty obtaining a home study of the father's living situation because he was in Mexico.  The court ordered the children's prompt placement without a home study, but, then, in February 2020, additional evidence was discovered about the father's crimin...