International Child Relocations from Illinois

31 DuPage County Bar Association Brief 22 (Jan. 2019)

4 Pages Posted: 31 Jul 2017 Last revised: 10 Aug 2022

See all articles by Jeffrey A. Parness

Jeffrey A. Parness

Northern Illinois University - College of Law

Date Written: July 27, 2017

Abstract

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled in Martinez v. Cahue, 826 F. 3d 983 (7th Cir. 2016) that under the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Convention), one unwed parent’s “initial removal” of a child from a habitual residence in Illinois to Mexico was not an abduction under the Convention per Illinois law. It also found that Mexico had become the child’s “habitual residence” since the child was “settled” there. Therefore, the court held there could be no possible order of return of the child to Illinois, as the non-relocating Illinois parent could not complain of, or have a hearing on, the initial move to Mexico because the relocating parent, at the time of the move, had sole custody of the child under Illinois law because there was no court order on child custody benefiting the non-relocating parent.

This ruling is problematic for several reasons. The outcome likely would have differed if the relocating parent had not been the birth mother, but the father of the child born of sex, or if the relocating parent had been a woman who served as the second mother to a child born of assisted reproduction to her partner. It is also troublesome because if the relocating parent desired to move within Illinois or to another American state, and not to Mexico, the non-relocating parent in Illinois would likely have had a day in court. Finally, the ruling is troublesome because it incentifies certain parents, who otherwise amicably raise their children with other parents, to seek child custody orders simply to prevent international relocations.

Keywords: unwed parents, child abduction, habitual residence, international child relocation

Suggested Citation

Parness, Jeffrey A., International Child Relocations from Illinois (July 27, 2017). 31 DuPage County Bar Association Brief 22 (Jan. 2019), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3009927

Jeffrey A. Parness (Contact Author)

Northern Illinois University - College of Law ( email )

Swen Parson Hall
DeKalb, IL 60115
United States

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