CAN I FILE FOR CUSTODY OF THE CHILDREN HERE IN GERMANY ( KOREA, ITALY, JAPAN, ETC.)?
A. You can usually ask the courts in the country where you or your spouse is stationed to grant you custody of your children who are living in that country. “Habitual residence” and physical presence of the child within the court’s jurisdiction (i.e., in the area served by the court) are very important. If you do this, then the courts of that country ( Germany , for example) will decide “which parent has the right to determine the whereabouts of the child,” which is what custody is all about. In many states in the U.S., a foreign court order for custody will be honored as if it were a court order of that state or of a sister state. The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, which has been adopted in most states, requires this result so long as the court in the other country had proper jurisdiction over the children when the order was entered, and certain other requirements are met. Note, however, that some nations will not hear a custody case unless at least one of the
