Family Law Blog

Separation can be difficult, arguably more so when children are involved. You may want to break the ties completely but the Courts will quite often find that it’s in the best interests of your children to spend time with both of you. What happens though when one parent takes matters into their own hands and removes the children from your life completely?

A friend of mine recently told me about an article he read on the growing number of separated mothers leaving New Zealand and relocating to Australia with their children. As a single father he was concerned about this trend and specifically, that it was happening without the father’s consent or a Court order. The article stated that 70% of New Zealand children involved in international custody disputes last year were found to have been taken to Australia.

Last month we saw the troubling headlines that a young man, Stephen Hume, had allegedly assaulted his 16 year-old girlfriend and ‘abducted’ their eight month old son. The search continued for a couple of days for the father, while baby Zhaiden was delivered to Campbelltown Police station by a member of Mr Hume’s family and ultimately reunited with his mother.