It’s a scary situation to think about. All of the rulings have been passed, the court has said its final word on child custody, but the other parent is not satisfied and decides to take matters into their own hand by abducting your child and absconding to another state, or even worse, to another country.
International abduction is the term used for parents who abscond with their child to another country. However, there are certain things that can be done in order to prevent the abduction from happening in the first place. Whether it’s watching out for warning signs or setting up as many legal safeguards as possible, there are ways to detect and prevent an abduction before the potential abductor has the chance to act. In accordance with the U.S. Department of State, a few of the things that should be prioritized while on watch for suspicious signs include:
- Asking for your family’s passports to be held onto by a neutral third party
- Requesting supervised visitations
- Paying close attention to warning signs, including abduction threats
- Not delaying to take action if suspicion is aroused
It is also important to be alert to potential changes in the schedule of the other parent. This can include moving suddenly, quitting their job without warning, closing bank accounts, selling property, and so on. These could all be interpreted as potential signs that a parent is planning to leave the country and should be treated seriously. It is always better to be wrong but to act on suspicions anyway than to be right and not have acted at all.
Keeping this in mind, if any suspicous signs are noticed, it is best to report them as quickly as possible to the appropriate authorities.