Chid taken to USA against fathers will

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george1

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Jan 2, 2011
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Good day everyone. I am new here and this is my first thread. i hope that I will receive some advise by posting here.
The situation is that my wife took my son from the DR to the USA without my knowledge or consent.
My wife, kids and I are living in the DR for around eight years. We have two children which are both minors. My wife and two children are USA citizens (the kids were born there), I am British.
My wife and I are seperated for 2 years now. We both live in Santo Domingo and I see the kids almost daily.
A few days ago the kids and my wife flew to NY without my knowledge or consent. Now I have beeen informed through a chat with my daughter that my son will be left behind in NY and only my wife and daughter will return here. My wife wants to leave my son in her sisters house, in which exist deploarable conditions.
No one has ever asked me or seeked my consent for anything. not for leaving the country nor for him moving to the USA. We have never been infront of any judge and I have full parental rights as father.
My questions are , were laws broken here? What is my best way to proceed here? Is it not illegal for for my wife's sister to house a minor against the fathers wishes? How can I get my son back?
Unfortunately I have been hit a bit hard by the current economic crisis and I do not have a fortune to hand over to an attorney to take care of this. Thank you in advance.
 
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Alyonka

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You can do a search online and find a good marriage and custody layer or investigator in the US who might be able to negotiate the price and payment plan with you. It is probably better to find a PI or a Law firm in NY area so that they could check the situation out for you. Just do a search online on private investigators, law and custody firms. Good luck!
 
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Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Does your wife have sole custody?

Regarding your questions as to whether laws have been broken and how to proceed, yiou will get a lot of input from posters, but the most important is what you will get from Fabio Guzman, the attorney who answers questions in this section. Wait for his input before taking action.
 
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rubio_higuey

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Feb 7, 2007
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If the kids are USA citizens and have no Dominican citizenship, you're a bit out of luck. If the kids had their both certificates transcribed in the DR and have DR birth certificates as well (not necessarily passports, but their birth is registered in the DR books) then you can do the Tribunal de Menores thing I wrote about in a different thread (look for "My child wants to return to USA..." thread). DR court can order the mother to present the minor for court appearance. If no DR papers, you will have to do everything in the USA.
 
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george1

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Ken2 said:
Does your wife have sole custody?

Regarding your questions as to whether laws have been broken and how to proceed, yiou will get a lot of input from posters, but the most important is what you will get from Fabio Guzman, the attorney who answers questions in this section. Wait for his input before taking action.
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No, we are still married and there has been no custody decision made what so ever. I am father wih full rights.
 
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george1

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rubio_higuey said:
If the kids are USA citizens and have no Dominican citizenship, you're a bit out of luck. If the kids had their both certificates transcribed in the DR and have DR birth certificates as well (not necessarily passports, but their birth is registered in the DR books) then you can do the Tribunal de Menores thing I wrote about in a different thread (look for "My child wants to return to USA..." thread). DR court can order the mother to present the minor for court appearance. If no DR papers, you will have to do everything in the USA.
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Both children are USA citizen, we moved here 8 years ago. But, is it possible for just one parent to take the child away and move it to a different country without fathers concent? And then place it in a different household? Or how about her leaving the country without my knowledge? That should not be possible either?
 
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george1

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Ken2 said:
Does your wife have sole custody?

Regarding your questions as to whether laws have been broken and how to proceed, yiou will get a lot of input from posters, but the most important is what you will get from Fabio Guzman, the attorney who answers questions in this section. Wait for his input before taking action.
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Thank you very much. I will be looking forward to it...
 
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puryear270

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Aug 26, 2009
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And also remember that each state in the United States has its own set of laws regarding custody of children.

Theoretically, your wife should not have been able to cross an international border with your children without some sort of written consent on your part. But that really is water under the bridge.

Get an attorney in the state where the children are present.
 
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george1

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puryear270 said:
And also remember that each state in the United States has its own set of laws regarding custody of children.

Theoretically, your wife should not have been able to cross an international border with your children without some sort of written consent on your part. But that really is water under the bridge.

Get an attorney in the state where the children are present.
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I appreciate your advice, but I am not quite sure if it is water under the bridge. I believe the law was broken here.
Regarding a US Atty., there is no money for that. A US Atty. would charge a thousand to only listen to the case, plus I don't think they would know about DR law. I will go to the US embassy soon to find out if there is anything they could do.
 
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george1

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It is just unimaginable to me how one parrent can decide to take a child and move it to a different country without the other one even being informed. I saw a movie a while ago "Not w/out my daughter" w/ sally Field. This situation almost reminds me of it.
 
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kelvindal

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Child taken to US

People do all kinds of crazy things. Especially women in family law/custody/divorce situations. With them, irrationality tends to be the norm.
 
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La Rubia

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windeguy said:
The part that is water under the bridge is that it is very unlikely that you can take legal action here in the DR about this.

As other's have mentioned, you need a lawyer here in the DR to provide his opinion and most likely it will be that you need a lawyer in the US. Best of luck on this.
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Call the British Embassy in the US to see what they have to say.
You need to file for custody ASAP before your wife does. If you file, what she did will count against her. If she files, and you aren't able to show, you'll lose despite what she's done.
Because you don't have custody documentation, while the airline messed up, she has freedom of movement with her child. It seems to me that you'll have to go through the US, and lawyers will have to be involved.
You have to be active, ask for custody in any court (DR or US) that will listen, and do what it takes to get legal representation.
 
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george1

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frank recktenwald said:
I've said it before and will say it again "we men don't have any rights just obligations"
The system in custody cases any where is f....d up!!!!!
Wish you all the luck!!
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That does not sound to encouraging. All I know is, if I would have taken one of my children to Europe without her permission, I probably would be in Jail right now. I will go to both Embassies and see how far i get...
 
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puryear270

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george1 said:
I appreciate your advice, but I am not quite sure if it is water under the bridge. I believe the law was broken here.
Regarding a US Atty., there is no money for that. A US Atty. would charge a thousand to only listen to the case, plus I don't think they would know about DR law. I will go to the US embassy soon to find out if there is anything they could do.
Click to expand...

I don't mean to offend, but you are about to become very, very frustrated if you don't change your thinking ASAP.

You are correct in saying that the law was not followed with regards to your wife taking your child outside of the country without your written consent. However, unless this was done for nefarious reasons (e.g., child prostitution), no one in either country is going to even consider prosecuting her. A US judge might listen if you say that your wife took the child out of the country illegally, but unless your signature was forged on a letter giving permission, all you're going to get is a nod of the head from the judge. And since there was no formalized custody arrangement in place, there is no kidnapping or contempt of court.

Since the child is physically present in the United States and there is no DR court order, the US State Department is not going to get involved. A Dominican attorney will be able to tell you if you are able to establish any sort of custody here in the DR.

Since you don't have money for a US attorney, you might contact Legal Aid of New York (www.legal-aid.org). That is an American organization of attorneys who take non-defense cases on a sliding scale or pro-bono basis.

If you can get the case into a US court, then a determination will be made on what is in the best interest of the child.

Just because the law is technically on your side does not mean a great deal in this case, unless you are willing to take a pro-active stance and fight for your rights. And once you do that, you are probably going to have a very upset soon-to-be-ex-wife.

Again, I don't mean to offend, and I wish you all the best, but as Sally Field's character learned, simply being in the right is not always sufficient.
 
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george1

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puryear270 said:
I don't mean to offend, but you are about to become very, very frustrated if you don't change your thinking ASAP.

You are correct in saying that the law was not followed with regards to your wife taking your child outside of the country without your written consent. However, unless this was done for nefarious reasons (e.g., child prostitution), no one in either country is going to even consider prosecuting her. A US judge might listen if you say that your wife took the child out of the country illegally, but unless your signature was forged on a letter giving permission, all you're going to get is a nod of the head from the judge. And since there was no formalized custody arrangement in place, there is no kidnapping or contempt of court.

Since the child is physically present in the United States and there is no DR court order, the US State Department is not going to get involved. A Dominican attorney will be able to tell you if you are able to establish any sort of custody here in the DR.

Since you don't have money for a US attorney, you might contact Legal Aid of New York (www.legal-aid.org). That is an American organization of attorneys who take non-defense cases on a sliding scale or pro-bono basis.

If you can get the case into a US court, then a determination will be made on what is in the best interest of the child.

Just because the law is technically on your side does not mean a great deal in this case, unless you are willing to take a pro-active stance and fight for your rights. And once you do that, you are probably going to have a very upset soon-to-be-ex-wife.

Again, I don't mean to offend, and I wish you all the best, but as Sally Field's character learned, simply being in the right is not always sufficient.
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Thank you for the information. I still believe a child should be living with the parrents and not be shipped of to folks in NY. That bis not right.
 
frank recktenwald

frank recktenwald

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george1 said:
Good day everyone. I am new here and this is my first thread. i hope that I will receive some advise by posting here.
The situation is that my wife took my son from the DR to the USA without my knowledge or consent.
My wife, kids and I are living in the DR for around eight years. We have two children which are both minors. My wife and two children are USA citizens (the kids were born there), I am British.
My wife and I are seperated for 2 years now. We both live in Santo Domingo and I see the kids almost daily.
A few days ago the kids and my wife flew to NY without my knowledge or consent. Now I have beeen informed through a chat with my daughter that my son will be left behind in NY and only my wife and daughter will return here. My wife wants to leave my son in her sisters house, in which exist deploarable conditions.
No one has ever asked me or seeked my consent for anything. not for leaving the country nor for him moving to the USA. We have never been infront of any judge and I have full parental rights as father.
My questions are , were laws broken here? What is my best way to proceed here? Is it not illegal for for my wife's sister to house a minor against the fathers wishes? How can I get my son back?
Unfortunately I have been hit a bit hard by the current economic crisis and I do not have a fortune to hand over to an attorney to take care of this. Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...

I overlooked this the 1st time I read the thread but answer me this please. Why would your "wife" and daughter return to the DR and leave your son behind in the US with a relative? This is strange.
 
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george1

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frank recktenwald said:
I overlooked this the 1st time I read the thread but answer me this please. Why would your "wife" and daughter return to the DR and leave your son behind in the US with a relative? This is strange.
Click to expand...

I agree with you completely. My wifes Sister and her husband are superintendends and are getting old and need a young dude to take care of the building. Also, they have a mentally ill daughter that needs to be watched over.
 
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puryear270

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george1 said:
I agree with you completely. My wifes Sister and her husband are superintendends and are getting old and need a young dude to take care of the building. Also, they have a mentally illl daughter that needs to be watched over.
Click to expand...

How old is the child we are discussing?

We probably should have asked that question first.
 
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