If custody order says mother and child are not allowed to leave the state, is there any chance the court would allow them to go on a vacation to another country if the father says no?
I cannot speak for all jurisdictions, but I can answer the question based upon the law where I practice divorce and family law (Utah):
First, if the court were to order a parent not to leave the state (just the parent, not the parent with the child), that would likely be held unconstitutional, as a civil court does not have the authority to infringe upon an individual’s right to travel without a compelling reason.
Second, if the court were to order a parent not to leave the state with the child, that may be within the court’s authority to do so, especially if:
there were evidence that you have tried to abscond with the child to a foreign country (whether the foreign country is beyond the reach of the Hague Convention) or are at risk of absconding with the child to a foreign country.
the custody award, such as a joint physical custody award, was conditioned upon the parties residing within a certain geographical distance of each other.
That stated, if:
there is no concern about you absconding with the children to a foreign country, never to return;
the foreign country to which you want to travel on vacation is not a dangerous place (i.e., a place where Americans are routinely kidnapped or killed and/or where there are wars, insurrections, and/or dangerous natural disasters occurring);
there is no harm that a child would suffer by traveling with you internationally (such as a certain health or medical or mental health condition that makes international travel a serious danger to the child), I cannot see any reason why a court would deny you the right to travel to a foreign country on vacation; and
there is no other compelling reason to deny you and the child(ren) the opportunity to vacation internationally,
I doubt that any court would bar you from travelling internationally with the child(ren).
Utah Family Law, LC | divorceutah.com | 801-466-9277
If I’m married with a child (separated for 4 years), how do I get a divorce and establish a child support order, if I don’t know where my spouse is? (might not be in the same country)?
In Utah, where I practice divorce law, the process is as follows (it is likely similar in other jurisdictions too):
1. Prepare and file the complaint for divorce (and a few other initial required documents as part of the filing process) with the court (Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 3).
2. Make duly diligent efforts to locate your spouse you are suing for divorce. Check his/her last few last-known residential and work addresses and see if he/she is there. Check and see if he/she is staying with close family members or friends or at a boyfriend’s/girlfriend’s house. Try contacting him/her on his/her last few last-known telephone numbers and work and personal e-mail addresses he/she uses or has used in the past. Look on social media to see if that gives you any hints as to where he/she may be. Ask common friends and contacts of yours and your spouse if they know where to find your spouse. That’s a duly diligent search (Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 4(d)(5)(A)).
3. If, despite your duly diligent search, the whereabouts of your spouse are still unknown, if service is impracticable under the circumstances, or if there is good cause to believe that your spouse is avoiding service, you may file a motion to allow service by some other means. Your motion must include an affidavit or declaration describing your efforts to identify, locate, and serve your spouse, or the circumstances that make it impracticable to serve him/her. (Id.)
4. If the motion is granted, the court will order service of the complaint and summons by means reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise your spouse of the action (Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 4(d)(5)(B)). What does “means reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise” mean? Back when newspapers were so ubiquitous, it meant placing a notice in the “legal notices” section of a newspaper of general circulation in a county where your spouses was believed to be or likely to be, for 3–4 weeks. But now that far fewer people read newspapers, “means reasonably calculated to apprise” means still possibly the publication in the newspaper or a text message to the person’s last-known telephone number(s), an e-mail, a certified letter, or a post or instant message on social media, if your spouse has an active social media profile.
5. After you have filed proof of attempted alternate service with the court, if the time for publication has passed (usually at least 21 -30 days), and if your spouse has not filed a responsive pleading, he/she will be in default. You can then apply to the court for entry of default and for default judgment (Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 55 Default).
6. As long as your complaint for divorce is sworn or verified and contains all of the factual allegations and information that the court will either grant default judgment “on the pleadings” themselves or after a brief hearing in which you would appear before the court to provide the court with testimony and evidence to establish your claims.
7. If default judgment is granted, the court will either draft the documents needed to process your case to a close or ask you or your lawyer to prepare those documents: findings of fact and conclusions of law and a decree of divorce. If you sought an award of child support in your complaint for divorce and the court granted that request, your decree will contain provisions awarding you child support, along with the other relief you sought in your complaint.
And that’s it.*
* If, after entry of default against your spouse were to try to have his/her default and default judgment overturned (“set aside” is the language the court rules use), then if he/she can show the court good cause to set the default judgment aside, then it can set aside so that the case can be argued and decided on the merits of the case, instead of by default (Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 55(c)).
Utah Family Law, LC | divorceutah.com | 801-466-9277