Parents can take preventive steps to prevent abductions

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5:42 PM Friday, August 27, 2010

I want to compliment the DDN for the thorough and well-written article(s) it published about my client, Kent Swaim (“Dad with custody can’t get kids from ex-wife in Japan,” Aug. 15).

While Kent’s epic fight for his children certainly falls into the category of a human-interest story, there are several important points that should be understood about the international child custody and abduction problems in the United States. While the Hague Convention Act does provide some assistance in dealing with children wrongfully taken to countries that are signatories, even this recourse (where available) is very cumbersome, costly, and may require litigation in federal court. And the outcomes can be very uncertain. So, preventive steps need to be taken to be certain that a child is not secretly removed to a foreign country.

Passport applications for children require notarized signatures and consent of both parents. Before applying for one, consider the potential risks inherent in obtaining one. Just to be safe, it is my advice that if you do obtain a passport for your child, keep it in a secure, private location where your foreign citizen spouse cannot access it.

In addition, the public should be made aware of the Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program operated through the U.S. State Department, which was established to fight child abduction of all kinds. Essentially, the program creates a protocol where a parent or both parents will be contacted if there is a passport application made on behalf of a child who has been registered.

Parental kidnapping problems are not limited to Japan and India. An order of custody from a U.S. court may not be given any force and effect by many other countries for a variety of reasons. Our everyday protections of civil and human rights in the United States, as well as our justice system, may lull many Americans into a false sense of believing that the rest of the world operates as we do. Most countries do not.

R. Anne Shale

Beavercreek

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