Parental Abduction: Prevention and Remedies

jcpas.jpgOur guest contributor this week is Judianne Cochran a nationally recognized expert/consultant in the following disciplines: sex offender profiling; interstate and international parental abduction; interstate custody and parental alienation. She has testified in numerous Courts throughout Ohio and the country. Judi presently resides in Columbus, Ohio.

Recently, there has been a flurry of news reports and discussions regarding cases where an abduction has already occurred and a child has been taken and retained in a foreign jurisdiction.  The most recent is a case where a father attempted a “snatch-back” in Japan.  As is usually the case, this self-help method does not result in the recovery of a child.  Unfortunately, in both that case and in the Goldman case where the child is in Brazil, it appears that nothing was done in the way of prevention before the loss of the child.

There are many measures which can be put into place to aid in the prevention of an international abduction.  To begin with, any parent who chooses to have a child with a foreign national should always anticipate the possibility that the foreign parent will eventually elect to take the child and return “home”.  Since this is an obvious predictable … Read More... “Parental Abduction: Prevention and Remedies”

U.S. Father Arrested In Japan For Picking Up Children “Abducted” By Ex-Wife…..The “Rest Of The Story”!

hall09.jpgChristopher Savoie (“Father”) was arrested in Japan on September 28, 2009, for trying to take his two (2) children, Isaac Savoie, eight (8) years of age, and Rebecca Savoie, six (6) years of age, away from their Mother, Noriko Savoie, while she was walking the children to school.  Father forcibly placed the two children into his car and drove towards the U.S. Embassy or Consulate Office in Fukuoka, Japan. His goal was to get the children into the U.S. Consulate Office in order to obtain passports for the children so that he could return them to the United States.

His plan failed as he was apprehended by the police before he could reach the Consulate Office.   His pleas to the police in Mother’s home city in Japan that he was the “custodial” parent and that she was the parent who abducted the children from the United States were ignored by the arresting officers and the subsequent judicial officers.  Instead, Christopher Savoie was arrested and charged with attempting to abduct his own children, a charge with a potential sentence of five (5) years imprisonment.

Facts of the Savoie Case:

  1. The parties lived in Japan for most of their marriage. Four years
… Read More... “U.S. Father Arrested In Japan For Picking Up Children “Abducted” By Ex-Wife…..The “Rest Of The Story”!”

Fact or Fiction: Biological Children Fare Better Than Adopted Children?

ncadopt.jpgAccording to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 2.1 million adopted children and 4.4 million stepchildren of householders as estimated from the Census 2000 sample. Together, these children represented approximately 8 percent of the 84 million sons and daughters of householders in 2000.

It is a fact, based upon several recent surveys, that children in adoptive households are treated better than children in homes with two biological parents!  Adoptive parents were more likely to enrich their children’s lives to compensate for the lack of biological ties and invest more effort recognizing that adopted children needed more help to succeed. Nigel Barber, Ph.D., author of Kindness in a Cruel World, wrote a fascinating article in Psychology Today Blogs on June 1, 2009, about the subject (click here to read).  He analyzed two recent studies, both of which have findings that are inconsistent with the fairy-tale claim that parents cannot treat genetically unrelated children as well as their own kin.

In a study of homes having one natural child and one adopted child using records provided by an adoption agency for over 22 years, anthropologist, Kyle Gibson, concluded that adopted children were more likely to attend preschool and to … Read More... “Fact or Fiction: Biological Children Fare Better Than Adopted Children?”

The Dependency Tax Exemption Requirements Have Changed For 2009!

taxdep.jpgIn 2008, the IRS amended Code Section 152(e), the section which addresses the subject of the child dependency exemptions for divorced or separated parents. The old rule and procedures have been changed dramatically.

Here is a summary of the dependency exemption requirements:

  • The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
  • The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student, or (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled.
  • The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year.
  • The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.

If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.  (To read the special test for a qualifying child of more than one person, click here.

In most cases, but not always, a child of divorced or separated parents will qualify as a … Read More... “The Dependency Tax Exemption Requirements Have Changed For 2009!”

A Commentary: Nurturing Children After Divorce

post_divorce.jpgConsidering a multitude of differing perspectives and insights helps me to better hone my skills as a divorce lawyer.  What I see and hear every day is rarely black or white, but a rainbow of shades of gray. One way of broadening my viewpoint is to read all sorts of blogs each week, an activity which I totally enjoy! Consistently, one of my favorites is Michael Mastracci’s Divorce Without Dishonor Blog. Mike is an excellent attorney from Baltimore, Maryland. His own difficult and acrimonious divorce and child custody battle led to his personal interest in collaborative family law.  Attorneys and clients both should include his blog on their frequent read list. Mike regularly espouses ethical, moral and philosophical standards that we should aspire to meet. I have personally and professionally been a proponent of child welfare issues for over 30 years.  So, when I read his recent post about “What We Are Teaching Our Children of Separation and Divorce,” I had to ask Mike if I could have his permission to republish it. He kindly agreed. Here it is:

“What We Are Teaching Our Children of Separation and Divorce”

I stumbled upon a quote, while reading some other blogs that … Read More... “A Commentary: Nurturing Children After Divorce”

Should Ohio Social Workers Be Looking Over Their Shoulders?

shoulder.jpgThe legal analysis posted last week on this blog by Daniel Pollack discussing legal immunity for children services social workers was comprehensive and well done. A review of Ohio federal cases on point is very interesting and enlightening.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has decided on the issue of whether a caseworker can be personally liable.1 In Holloway, the court determined that absolute immunity applies to a caseworker only when they are acting in the scope of a legal advocate (such as a prosecutor) which is not their role under Ohio law.  The caseworker sued in Holloway withheld information from the Court that the mother had attempted to assert her parental rights, lying to the mother in telling her that her parental rights had been terminated when they had not and in failing to share information which would have allowed mother an opportunity to assert her rights in Court.   Analogizing the caseworker’s actions to a usurpation of the court’s authority, the Court stated that the caseworker did not have absolute immunity, but may have qualified immunity from liability. This distinction would leave the worker possibly liable for money damages.

Qualified immunity protects an individual caseworker who was … Read More... “Should Ohio Social Workers Be Looking Over Their Shoulders?”

Is There Legal Immunity for Social Workers Who Lie?

lie.jpgIt is an accepted principle that a parent has a constitutionally protected interest in the custody and care of his or her child.  This interest does have exceptions, especially when the child may be in immediate or apparent danger. This is when child protection services gets involved. Crucial to every child protection investigation is to establish the facts and circumstances of the case. When these are presented to the court at a dependency hearing, the evidence may become proof.

The best professional judgment of child protection workers may, in hindsight, be wrong.  For this and other reasons, child protection workers usually have some level of immunity from prosecution.1  When individual government officials are sued for monetary damages they generally are granted either absolute or qualified immunity. The United States Supreme Court has stated that qualified immunity is the norm, absolute immunity is the exception.2

Should that immunity disappear when, in their official capacities as child protection workers, they make knowingly inaccurate or false statements which result in the wrongful removal of a child?  California law provides for public employee immunity from liability for an injury caused by the employee instituting or prosecuting any judicial or administrative proceeding within … Read More... “Is There Legal Immunity for Social Workers Who Lie?”

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