Melissa Kucinski is a family law attorney and mediator practicing in the DC and Maryland area. She has created a unique niche in the family law area and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in international family law. She has served as a consultant to the Hague Conference on Private International Law and has written a dozen articles on international children’s issues and mediation of complex cross-border custody and abduction cases.
There is no one better than Melissa to share the ins and outs of the Hague Treaty. Melissa has also presented at nearly 30 national and international conferences on international children’s issues. She is a Fellow of the International Academy of Lawyers. She is also a professor at the George Washington University School of Law where she has been teaching international family law since 2010. She is the author of A Practical Handbook for the Child’s Attorney: Effectively Representing Children in Custody Cases. It’s an honor to have her on the show today.
You can find Melissa here:
MK Family Law
Melissa Kucinski on LinkedIn
MK Family Law on Facebook
@mkucinski on Twitter
A Practical Handbook for the Child’s Attorney: Effectively Representing Children in Custody Cases
Show Notes:
[03:01] Melissa has been through the divorce process herself. It was in a state where she was not licensed to practice law. Each state has slightly different laws.
[03:37] Going through her own divorce gave Melissa a different perspective.
[05:59] Melissa practices all family law in Washington DC and Maryland, but she has a particular interest in focusing on families who have cross jurisdictional or international issues.
[06:31] She has had an interest in working with diverse people with diverse ways of life, ever since college.
[07:13] It’s very complex dealing with laws in multiple jurisdictions. She is practicing true law.
[08:10] Melissa was fortunate to connect with family law at an early stage in her education. Working with international families was a wonderful experience.
[11:06] Families going through restructuring who have international connections need to talk to a lawyer who understands these complex issues.
[12:15] The process for dealing with international issues. There needs to be a collaboration of lawyers in all of the different jurisdictions.
[16:26] How are orders enforced either overseas or in the US? It depends on the issue and the country of enforcement.
[18:48] Dealing with property issues in different jurisdictions. A complicating factor of overseas assets is that the laws in other countries are very different.
[23:53] Child abduction and parents taking their children overseas. Children are often taken by people they know like a parent or family member.
[24:24] There is always the question of whether another country will honor an order given in the United States.
[25:11] There are some laws in the United States that make taking a child overseas a crime. The criminal path is the worst-case scenario.
[26:18] There are civil remedies. One of these is the Hague conference on child abduction. The goal is a quick expedited proceeding.
[28:16] Why wouldn’t all countries want to be part of the Hague convention? Some domestic legal systems don’t support the way the treaty is drafted, but many countries have ratified the treaty.
[32:38] Returning a child does not create a custody status.
[34:18] The child has to be found before starting one of these custody processes.
[35:48] The best way to prevent a potential abduction in the United States is to have a court order in place.
[36:12] Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act is a resource that lists risks factors and what can be in a court order to prevent an abduction.
[37:56] Having a court order is the absolute key, because in the United States there are no exit controls.
[38:38] To get a court order you have to demonstrate to a judge that the other parent is a risk.
Do you have any topics that you would like me to cover in future shows? Let me know in the comments below. Don’t forget to subscribe to the show, and if you are enjoying what you hear please leave a review on iTunes.
Links and Resources:
MK Family Law
Melissa Kucinski on LinkedIn
MK Family Law on Facebook
@mkucinski on Twitter
Hague Conference on Private International Law
US Department of State
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act
