Ex wife took away kids and will not allow them to come visit father

[aaugusto]

I am a divorced father and a Brazilian citizen. My ex-wife is an American Citizen. We were married for about ten years. After divorce, in 1998 she got custody and kept living in Brazil with the kids, two blocks from my house. I had constant contact with kids, boy now 9 and girl now 13.

Last July she asked me to sign permission for her to travel with kids to US to visit relatives for 2 weeks. I agreed, as always, and she went.

From the US she called saying she was keeping the kids and not coming back. Asked a friend to sell all her assets here and send her the money. She and kids are living in her sister's house outside Cleveland, Ohio. Now she will not allow kids to come and visit the rest of the family here (me, grandparents, aunts, cousins, etc,) The kids really want to come and cry on the phone as I call every weekend.  She says I will keep them here. I will not. Have stated that to her in writing.  Right now I work all day and go to school at night.

I'd like to ask you if you know if I would have any chance in an American Court and where I could find help to request a "Joint Parenting" agreement in Family Court in the US, so that it would be clearly stated that they would have the right to come see me and the rest of the family in Brazil at least once a year, during vacation.  

By Brazilian law this is a basic right for both parents and such request would never be denied in a court in this country. I have already filed a suit here in Brazilian court requesting that "Joint Parenting" status, but it will take very long for it to reach the US and it would have to be validated there, so I have been advised to look for help in Family Court in Cleveland, Ohio, where they are living, but I have no idea on how to go about it.  

Do you think that this could be dealt with as an ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution), to be solved before going to court ?  My main concern is the high cost of such action, since my income is very low compared to what costs can reach in the US, so she could defeat me simply by financial knock out. Can they petition the judge themselves with lawyer's help?

What makes it particularly difficult is that since this is a case involving 2 countries I have to get court decisions in both places.  I am taking care of the one here in Brazil.

I live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and my email is

[email protected]

I would appreciate any information.  Thank you.

Antonio Augusto Silva


 

[Peanutsdad]

Antonio,

I suggest you post this to Socrateasers board. Be sure you read his mandatory posting guidelines. Other than the links I am going to post, I dont really have any answers for your particular legal problem. Good luck.

psssst. any chance you can get me some fresh coffee beans from down that way? I REALLY miss the coffee there.




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http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/tips.htm

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http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/falseacc1.htm

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http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/blackmail.htm


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One of the first things you'll hear around here is "Document, document, document!". Having good records is *crucial*. Get yourself either the Parenting Time Tracker (PTT) at: http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/tracker.htm or the OPTIMAL Custody Tracking service at: http://www.parentingtime.net. The PTT is good, but the OPTIMAL service is definitely better.


 Contempt, Child Support Enforcement and You
This article will address what exactly contempt of court means to you, and more importantly, what to do about it.
URL: http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/contempt.htm

[aaugusto]

I am trying to reply to this message I got, but I don't know exactly how to work this site.  I don't know who answered my email, but thank you anyway.  Antonio

[tulip]

Under the main board list, there is a message board for Socrateaser. He is a big help with legal questions.

I think you are going to need to hire a lawyer in Cleveland.

Good luck.