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[CA] What can a parent file to protect custody of a child before returning to a foreign country?
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What can I file in Los Angeles?
I understand that navigating legal filings can be overwhelming. What specific type of filing are you looking to do in Los Angeles?
I plan to return to Thailand to my Thai wife who has threatened divorce and child custody of our child born there in late 2024 but in Los Angeles with me for three months. His mother returned to Thailand two weeks ago. What can I file now to protect my custody of my US citizen son if my wife asserts custody, if I want to return with my son later to Los Angeles?
Are you dealing with a civil matter, criminal case, or something else entirely?
Civil.
Is there anything else the Lawyer should know before I connect you? Rest assured they'll be able to help with your custody concerns.
No.
Hi there! My name is Liz and I've been an attorney for more than a decade, and I am here to assist with your legal concerns. No attorney-client relationship is formed from our conversation. So I can best help, to be clear, are both you and your son US citizens?
Just me in LA, my wife suddenly left two weeks ago back to Thailand.
Yes, we are both US citizens.
Thanks for sharing. Since you're returning to Thailand, will you then relocate back to the US? With filing anything in the US, you have to show the US has jurisdiction, since you and the child will be in Thailand that can be difficult.
Yes, she has promised six months here and six there, but I don't want her to prevent me from returning to the US.
With my son.
With returning, if you have a custody order, even if from Thailand, the US can help enforce it. Thailand is a signatory to The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which the United States implements domestically through the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (ICARA), 22 U.S.C. § 9001 et seq. This framework allows a parent to petition a US court to enforce a foreign custody or access order, or to seek the return of a child wrongfully removed or retained. Because you are in California, jurisdiction to make an initial custody determination, and to later enforce or modify one, would also be governed by California's Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), Cal. Fam. Code § 3400 et seq., which determines which state or country has authority to decide custody based on the child's "home state" and other residency factors.
So do I need that order here in the US before I travel back?
You don't need an order in the US before traveling back. Also, getting an order in the US can take time, and you would have to serve her with the documentation abroad.
I see. That would be messy and could precipitate a legal battle there.
Due process requires that she have the notice.
Ok, thank you.
Is there anything else I can clarify?
No, this all was very helpful, Liz!
I'm glad I could help!
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