Child abduction is one of the scariest possibilities you have to face as a parent, and it doesn’t always happen the way people might imagine it. While TV shows and movies have shown child abductions as a thing that happens between children and complete strangers, it’s often somebody close to the child who does the actual abducting. Even worse, there are a lot of times when one of the two parents is the one abducting the child. Not only is this a traumatizing experience for the child, but it’s also a difficult legal situation.
An abducted kid is a delicate situation to handle, so it’s best that you find help navigating the situation. The legal system can be complex when it comes to when parents do and don’t have the right to spend time with a child. As a parent, it’s important to have a basic understanding of how parental kidnapping typically happens, what you can do to resolve it and what the law says about these situations. While you can’t handle everything on your own, having a basic understanding will help you make the best decisions for your situation with an expert’s help.
If Your Child Is Missing
If your child has gone missing, there are several steps you need to take to initiate the process of locating them. Taking these steps as soon as possible makes it easier to find children who have been victims of parental kidnapping, as these incidents often occur very close to the area where they were last seen.
The first step you should take when your child is abducted by the other parent is contacting the Committee for Missing Children. Getting in touch with somebody who can help is an important step in locating your child and reuniting with them as soon as possible, which can be a difficult process when you have a missing child. The fact that another parent is involved can make the kidnapping even more difficult, especially when that child is taken to another country. International parental kidnapping experts can help you create a plan as soon as possible so you can be reunited with your kid and keep them out of harm’s way.
Once you’ve contacted the Committee for Missing Children, you should inform family and friends that your child has been the victim of parental kidnapping. When a parent kidnaps a child, they often get in touch with another relative to try to make arrangements. Your family members might be able to give you clues as to what the other parent of your kid is planning in the aftermath of a kidnapping, and that information can be vital in reuniting you with your child.
Contacting a lawyer is another important step when your child has been kidnapped by one parent. Even though both parents typically have a right to spend time with their children, there are strict laws against kidnapping, especially when one parent doesn’t have custody. Getting in touch with a lawyer creates a timestamp that legally marks the moment your child was kidnapped, which can be important if the case needs to go further in the future.
Getting in touch with the police is also an important part of reuniting with your child. Notifying the police is an important step in creating a legitimate missing persons report, which is what allows police in other states to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity and potentially intercept kidnapping victims before they reach their destination. You should contact the police as soon as possible in the aftermath of a potential international parental kidnapping incident.
School is an important part of every child’s life, so you should also contact your child’s school if they’re the victim of parental kidnapping. There are a few reasons why it’s important to get in touch with your child’s school after parental kidnapping. The most important reason is that the other parent is likely to bring your children by their school at some point, or they may call the school to let them know that the child won’t be attending for a while. These interactions can provide crucial clues in parental kidnapping cases, so contacting the school as soon as possible is important.
Fighting for the Return of Your Child
Finding a kid who was the victim of parental kidnapping can be difficult enough, but there are also tough legal processes in place when it comes to fighting for the return of your child. Even after you’ve found your kid, you need to work with lawyers and other legal experts to get them back with you so you can keep them safe and sound.
The ideal way to get your child back is to ask the parent who kidnapped them to commit a voluntary return. A voluntary return simply means that the parent decides to go back on what they’ve done and reunite them with their other parent with no legal process involved. This is the simplest way of doing things, and it also causes the least stress on the child. However, convincing a parent who’s kidnapped a kid to commit to a voluntary return can be a difficult task. Negotiating safely is important, especially if you’re dealing with a person who has a history of mental health issues.
Under the Hague Convention, you can apply to have your kid returned to the country where they resided before the kidnapping took place. This can be confusing because some parents think applying for the return of a child via the Hague Convention guarantees that they will get custody of the return is approved. Instead, the Hague Convention simply ensures that your child can return to their original country of residence to have matters of custody decided upon, which can be a crucial part of fighting for the return of your kid. The last thing you want is to have a custody hearing in a different country where the details and decision of the original custody hearing have no bearing on the situation.
If a voluntary return isn’t possible, it’s important to apply for the return of your child via the Hague Convention as soon as possible. The process can take a while, so time is of the essence.
Reuniting with Your Child
Reuniting with your child is one of the most difficult and rewarding process in the aftermath of parental kidnapping. Not only do you go through a lot of emotional stress and trauma when you can’t see your child for a period of time, but it also puts a lot of stress on your child. Reuniting with your child can also be a very difficult process if they have to relocate to another geographic area or get to know you again after a long period of being apart.
The Committee for Missing Children aims not only to help parents find and return their missing children, but also to help them reunite and form a healthy relationship again. This can be a difficult process when a child has been kidnapped by a parent, so it’s important to handle the situation with care. Having experts on your side is the best way to get your child back and make sure the whole process goes smoothly.
If your child is a victim of parental kidnapping, the Committee for Missing Children can help return them to you and return your lives to normal. Contact us today to learn more about what we do and how we can help you reunite with your child after the difficulty of a parental kidnapping situation.