We have had many occasions to write on child removal cases before on our blog. In some of those cases, we noted the difficulty one parent faces in obtaining custody of a child when the other parent takes the child out of the country. In a reversal of those earlier stories, a case has developed in New Jersey where a father has brought his young daughter to the U.S. while the mother has pursued custody from another country.

The case may go all the way to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The high court has placed a stay on all further proceedings until it decides whether it will add the matter to its calendar. The father entered a petition for certification with the court in early August, one day after the Appellate Division ruled against him and ordered that the daughter be returned to her mother.

The custody and removal case began in 2008 when the father took his daughter, then 5 years old, from Turkey and brought her to New Jersey. The daughter was a U.S. citizen from birth, having been delivered at a New Jersey hospital while the mother and father were in the country. The mother claims that she did not know of or agree to the child’s removal from Turkey.

The mother has filed custody actions in Turkey and in New Jersey state courts. Both the Passaic County Family Court and the Appellate Division have ruled in her favor, but it remains to be seen what the state Supreme Court will do if it takes the case. Judges sitting on the high court may have little state precedent to review, as officials have reported that there are few New Jersey cases bearing on questions of international jurisdiction.

Source: Clifton Journal, “Parents still wait for custody decision,” Tony Gicas, Aug. 31, 2012

• Cross-border removal cases can present complex challenges in part due to the laws involved. If you would like to learn more, please visit our Kingston child custody page.