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Summary: "Parental abduction" is child abduction done by a parent. It's one of the scariest experiences which a parent can go through - having your child seem to vanish into thin air. There are more than 350,000 child abductions every year, and parental abduction accounts for the vast majority of them.
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"Parental abduction" is child abduction done by a parent. It's one of the scariest experiences which a parent can go through - having your child seem to vanish into thin air.
There are more than 350,000 child abductions every year, and parental abduction accounts for the vast majority of them.
"Parental abduction" is the unlawful taking of a child by one parent, depriving the other parent or guardian of their lawful custody of the child. Parental abduction can be performed by either parent, mother or father, custodial or non-custodial. This means that if the custodial parent takes the child away in a manner which deprives the other parent of their court-ordered time with their child, that is parental abduction, even though the abducting parent may have court-ordered custody!
As with so many things, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This is particularly true with parental kidnapping, as once a child has been kidnapped, the perpetrating parent may go underground, or even to another country, and finding the child, let alone retrieving them, can be a nearly impossible task. For that reason it is much better to prevent your child vanishing with the other parent than to try to have to find them after the fact.
It All Starts with Your Court Order for Custody and Visitation!
Every single parent, whether they fear parental abduction or not, should have a valid, current order from the Court which spells out the timeshare arrangements which they have with their children.
Having a valid, detailed court order for timeshare is the single most important thing you can do to help prevent parental kidnapping! An informal agreement between you and your ex is not enough, even if it is in writing! It must be an order of the Court!
Your court order should be highly specific; if a court order reads only "reasonable visitation" or "timeshare as the parties may agree to between themselves", then it will be very difficult to get the order enforced, let alone to prove parental abduction. For example, if you try to get the police to enforce an order which says only "reasonable visitation", you will have a hard time proving that the order has been violated. If, on the other hand, your court order says "the first and third weekend of every month", and it is the third weekend of the month, and your child is nowhere to be found, that is a clear violation of the order.
If you already have a court order which addresses your parenting time with your children, review it carefully to determine how specific it is. If it is not highly specific, consult with an attorney about having it modified. This does not have to be an adversarial process; with the right attorney, a new timeshare agreement and order can usually be negotiated cooperatively between the parents and/or their attorneys.
After your court order is in shape, there are several steps you should take, and documents that you should compile, to help ensure that if your child does become a victim of parental abduction, you'll be best prepared. We will cover those steps in the next lesson.
Remember, the sooner you are able to act following your child being taken by the other parent, the more likely you are to be able to find them, and quickly.
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Recommended reading (click on the picture for more information):
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