In the emotional turmoil of a divorce it can be difficult to see the trees for the forest. That is, it can be difficult to maintain the presence of mind to rationally address each sensitive aspect of a breakup under Virginia law; property division, support, child custody; while one may be dealing with a possibly deeper sense of personal dishonor or shame about the breakup.

Attorneys with particular experience in international family law know that this can become an especially nettlesome matter when dealing with cases of parental child abduction. A recent case offers an example of what we mean. While it took place in Colorado, it could have happened in Virginia. At the heart of the issue are the competing questions of determining custody and enforcing custody. Here are some specifics about the case, according to an appeals court ruling in the matter.

A mother from Vancouver, British Columbia, abducted her two children to Colorado. The father, still back in Vancouver, immediately filed for custody there. Apparently at about the same time, and before custody had been determined, the father asked Colorado to repatriate the children under the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. He lost that case. Later, the court in Vancouver did grant him custody.

The mother's case developed this way. She claimed that the father's failed Hague case through Colorado had effectively moved the question of jurisdiction over child custody to Colorado. The lower court disagreed, leaving the Vancouver custody order intact. An appeals court then upheld the lower court's decision.

The thing to remember from this somewhat convoluted situation is the distinction that the appeals court draws out. It took the opportunity of the case to reinforce that The Hague Convention treaty in question is not a tool for determining custody. Rather, it provides a basis in international cases through which an abducting parent can essentially be extradited for the alleged crime.

The court notes that child custody jurisdiction is something appropriately determined by applying what is called the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. And what often is misunderstood by the parents embroiled in their personal divorce dispute is that the objective of the courts in deciding custody issues is what is in the best interest of the children.

Source: Leagle.com, "In re Parental Responsibilities Concerning T.L.B.," Jan. 25, 2012