Hi there
I left the US in April 2014 telling my husband I was coming to Australia to visit my family with our 7-month baby boy. After being back here I told him that I was not returning due to his starting to use meth again. I was scared for our safety as when he is high he is unpredictable and abusive. I have some police reports from during the time we were together but mostly the abuse went unreported.
I understand that by removing my son from his birth state contravenes the Hague Convention. My husband has not made any application to have my son returned. It is coming up for 2 years which, from what I understand, is a significant date for applications for returning a child under the Hague Convention. I made a decision that was in the best interest of my son, it was not a safe or healthy environment for a child to live in.
Recently, my husband has been charged with DV 2nd degree Assault, and Kidnapping as well as 3rd degree Harassment and Deprivation of liberty for an alleged incident involving an on again off again girlfriend. He is in jail and awaiting trial, I'm not sure how long this process will take but I get the feeling it's not going to be speedy. So I don't see him making any application to have my son returned now. I'm also hoping this will work in my favour. Do you think so?
From what I understand my first step in getting custody of my son is to apply to have my case heard by the Australian Family Court system instead of returning to the US and the file here. I am attempting to do a lot of the legwork myself as I don't have the $10K that I have been quoted to do this but 2 different law firms. How do I go about this? Where do I start reading to get an understanding of the laws in my circumstances?
Most of the information I have been able to find about the Hague Convention is about requesting the return of a child and not much about my situation.
The things that concern me is my son does not have legal status here. I spoke with legal aid and they suggested that I apply for his Australian citizenship. On the citizenship application, it asks if there are any family court orders which there are not. I did ask my husband in Oct 2015 if he would provide a letter stating he gives his permission but he would. If I apply for Australian citizenship now, would it look dodgy that I have waited til he was in jail?
Any suggestions of how and where I should start to read would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
I left the US in April 2014 telling my husband I was coming to Australia to visit my family with our 7-month baby boy. After being back here I told him that I was not returning due to his starting to use meth again. I was scared for our safety as when he is high he is unpredictable and abusive. I have some police reports from during the time we were together but mostly the abuse went unreported.
I understand that by removing my son from his birth state contravenes the Hague Convention. My husband has not made any application to have my son returned. It is coming up for 2 years which, from what I understand, is a significant date for applications for returning a child under the Hague Convention. I made a decision that was in the best interest of my son, it was not a safe or healthy environment for a child to live in.
Recently, my husband has been charged with DV 2nd degree Assault, and Kidnapping as well as 3rd degree Harassment and Deprivation of liberty for an alleged incident involving an on again off again girlfriend. He is in jail and awaiting trial, I'm not sure how long this process will take but I get the feeling it's not going to be speedy. So I don't see him making any application to have my son returned now. I'm also hoping this will work in my favour. Do you think so?
From what I understand my first step in getting custody of my son is to apply to have my case heard by the Australian Family Court system instead of returning to the US and the file here. I am attempting to do a lot of the legwork myself as I don't have the $10K that I have been quoted to do this but 2 different law firms. How do I go about this? Where do I start reading to get an understanding of the laws in my circumstances?
Most of the information I have been able to find about the Hague Convention is about requesting the return of a child and not much about my situation.
The things that concern me is my son does not have legal status here. I spoke with legal aid and they suggested that I apply for his Australian citizenship. On the citizenship application, it asks if there are any family court orders which there are not. I did ask my husband in Oct 2015 if he would provide a letter stating he gives his permission but he would. If I apply for Australian citizenship now, would it look dodgy that I have waited til he was in jail?
Any suggestions of how and where I should start to read would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks