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Family Matters Children and the Hague |
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Written by andrew perry
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During the last 20 years a growing number of English families have settled in Spain. Many children are bilingual having settled into Spanish or international schools. If the parents separate, whether married or not, there can be very difficult decisions about custody, visits and maintenance.
In the most difficult situations, one parent may want to return to the United Kingdom with the children and issues of custody, abduction and consent will need to be dealt with.
If a child is taken from Spain without the consent of both parents, the Hague Convention provides for the child to be returned to Spain if it is their “country of habitual residence”. The Spanish Court will then be the appropriate Court to decide the matter based on the best interests of the child.
A recent case has shown that a family can have 2 different places of habitual residence but it is most likely to be where the children go to school, have their friends and have their family home.
It is clearly better for the parents to seek advice and come to an agreement before this happens. Leaving Spain and taking the child to the United Kingdom without the consent of the other parent can result in lengthy and stressful legal proceedings in both countries.
Maintenance for children is also an important issue. Both parents want to provide for the children but sometimes the disparity in earnings makes it difficult to come to an agreed figure. It is often better to try and negotiate a figure rather than have the Court decide the sum but both parents have a duty to disclose their earnings.
In Spain an unmarried father or mother will also have the right to apply under the Hague Convention if they have been exercising regular contact with the child.
De Cotta McKenna y Santafé,
Centro Comercial Valdepinos 1 y 3ª Urb. Calypso 29649 Mijas Costa (Málaga)
Tel.: +34 952 931 781
Fax: +34 952 933 547
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website: www.decottalaw.com
One person has commented on this article. 1. Hague Convention brushover?
Mark Burgess, Registered Hi Andrew,
I´m horrified upon reading this article you published after just having gone down this *apparent road and had advice from the above lawyers. If what was printed was true, then my 6 year old son who was born here in Spain would be home! He lived and went to school happily here in Alhaurin el Grande, he had lot´s of friends and neighbors that adored him and then was abruptly taken away at nearly 4.5years by his mother to the UK. I have since flushed over 30k in legal expenses through 18 months on what was proved useless and negligent advice and actions from another dodgy uk law firm, therefore 18 months has passed, then at the final hearing was then slapped in the face by my own Hague lawyers, being advised to drop the Hague proceedings as it was a no hoper, due to the UK judge deeming my son as *physically settled, even though it was proven he was not emotionally or psycologically settled??
He won´t always be 6, but how long does a child and his father have to suffer because of injustice! The right message needs to get out there, not an ad touting for business.
I now sit annalising the situation daily with the hope that maybe there is someway of getting real assistence from my Home country now! Spain is my home now and I own property here and pay my taxes! I will shortly be taking Spanish nationality over British!
I would expect that a good editor can read between the lines of what I´m saying and should you be able to aquire any further articles of such an interesting natue, then you have a regular reader! |
Andrew Perry |
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