MK Family Law

The Eleventh Circuit handed down a recent international service opinion in Winston v. Walsh .  The parties are divorced.  They had a son, who, post-divorce, died while in Walsh's (Father's) care.  No criminal charges were filed, but Winston (Mother)  filed a wrongful death action in Georgia state court.  By this time, Walsh, who was originally from the United Kingdom, had returned, was living there, and was remarried.  Winston dismissed her state court lawsuit, and brought a renewal action in the U.S. District Court.  The renewal action can only proceed, however, if the original action was valid, which Walsh says is not true since Winston never properly served him in the U.K.   Winston had attempted service, using the Hague Service Convention.  Winston had no idea where Walsh resided, but hired a P.I., and ultimately served him at an address where his sister lived and worked. Walsh's new wife also used that address on some business docum...

In Wan v. DeBolt (2020 WL 6274992 ), the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois allowed a Mother's Hague Abduction return petition to proceed.  The father sought to dismiss the petition, arguing that President Trump's July 2020 Executive Order to "suspend or eliminate different and preferential treatment for Hong Kong" ( Executive Order No. 13936, 85 Fed. Reg. 43413 ) eliminates the distinction between Hong Kong and China for purposes of the Hague Abduction Convention.  Hong Kong and the United States are treaty partners.  China is not a treaty party to the Hague Abduction Convention.   The Court concluded that the treaty is still in force between the United States and Hong Kong.  Specifically, the court received a form letter from the U.S. Department of State on October 15, 2020 acknowledging it is the Central Authority under the treaty, and detailing its available resources, clearly stating its role in this particular case with Hong Kong...

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals addressed a recent argument made numerous times before in virtually every U.S. state: if a couple is married overseas, particularly in a religious marriage ceremony, then the couple must also divorce overseas.  In the case of Melki v. Melki, the couple married in an Orthodox Christian ceremony in Lebanon.   The couple then began residing in Montgomery County, Maryland and ultimately the Wife filed for divorce years later in Maryland.  Dr. Melki, the Husband, fought the divorce, and among his numerous arguments was that Lebanon was the only appropriate jurisdiction that could divorce the couple ( i.e ., that Maryland has no subject matter jurisdiction).   As the Maryland COSA indicated,  "'[A]n essential element of the judicial power to grant a divorce, or jurisdiction,' is that one spouse be domiciled within the state at the time the complaint was filed. ...  A court must have jurisdiction of the res, or the ...

Today marks an auspicious day in history.  It is the 40th anniversary of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention.  This highly successful treaty serves to promptly return children to their habitual residence after they are wrongfully removed or retained in another treaty partner country.   You can find the Hague Conference's resource page for all things Child Abduction by clicking here .  For practitioners, pay special attention to a few resources on this website, including the Country Profiles  (cheat sheets on the resources available in a country for the Child Abduction Convention), the Status Table (to see what countries have ratified, acceded, and what countries accepted accessions), and a link to INCADAT (the caselaw database on child abduction cases).  Be sure to explore the Guides to Good Practice, the Explanatory Report, and all the documents reviewed and discussed as part of the Special Commission meetings (held about every 5 years to discu...

Dr. Hil Rizvi appeals a trial court order dismissing his complaint against a Massachusetts social service agency, a Maryland social service agency, and two separate Swiss governmental agencies.  The Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal on September 25, 2020 .   Rizvi is the father of two daughters who reside in Switzerland.  They were taken to Switzerland by their mother, Rizvi's estranged wife.  One of his two daughters received treatment, first in Maryland, and now in Switzerland, for an eating disorder.  Dr. Rizvi disagrees with the treatment.  This daughter did temporarily reside with Dr. Rizvi in Massachusetts in 2016, but pursuant to an emergency temporary custody order, the child was returned to Switzerland in the custody of her mother.  This federal lawsuit was filed by Dr. Rizvi who alleges that the four governmental agencies violated his parental rights.  He further argued that the Maryland and Massachusetts agencie...