As Washington residents know, being able to start a family is a joy that many people take part in. Unfortunately, families who start off being happy do not always stay that way. Divorce is becoming an extremely common occurrence, and when children are involved, custody disputes can cause rifts and tension among family members. When parents cannot agree to custody terms, court systems may be needed to rule on child custody. When the issue of the parents living in different locations arises, complications can further ensue.
Meeting in college is the beginning of many married couples' stories, which typically continue into having children and raising their family. Unfortunately for one couple, their story moved into kidnapping charges and child custody disputes. The couple lived in the United States, and after marrying and having children, they moved to a different country. The couple began to have their problems, and the mother took the children and moved back to the United States. The father filed kidnapping charges against the mother, and she returned the children to their father.
The mother wanted a divorce and custody of her children so she filed for both while living in the United States. She claims that the father of her children has been keeping her from them with the threat of the active kidnapping charge. The father does not want to give up custody of his children, and legal complications can arise as there are two different countries involved in the dispute.
Child custody is a touchy issue for many parents, and as this case shows, parents can go to great lengths -- from taking children to different countries to filing kidnapping charges -- in order to keep their children. Custody laws can be difficult for a person to handle on their own as laws can vary from location to location. Any one in Washington needing information on child custody may wish to look into their state laws in order to gain a better understanding of what they could encounter during custody proceedings.