Susan Myres, JD Myres & Associates Family Law, Houston, Texas, USA, Christopher Flynn, MD Menninger Clinic, Houston, Texas, USA,

Child Support Alimony

The Hague Conventions: Signatures, Ratifications and Accessions

Case Scenarios: Husband and wife are U.S. citizens with two children. Wife moves family to Russia for career.

Case Scenarios: Husband’s visa expires and moves home to Texas. Wife files for divorce in Russia. Husband returns to Russia for children.

Japanese Citizen Moves to U.S., marries U.S. citizen and has baby.

Family travels to Japan to visit family.

Japanese Citizen Moves to U.S., marries U.S. citizen and has baby. Family travels to Japan to visit family. Mother must leave Japan when visa expires.

*NASA Administrator moves family of five to Holland. *Wife wants to move back to U.S. and takes children with her. *Husband files with Hague to get children back to Holland. *Hague Convention exempts children 16 years of age or older.

Researching Jurisdictional Requirements: How long do you and your spouse have to live in the jurisdiction before you can file for relief? Do both parties have to live in the same place? How long do you and your spouse have to live apart before you can seek a divorce?

Property Division: How does the forum determine what property is subject to division? Is property owned prior to marriage subject to division? Or, is property acquired after marriage ever subject to consideration in post-divorce actions? How are assets valued and are they divided equally or disproportionately based on factors?

Is it available? How much can be expected? How is it determined? How long does it last? Can it change after divorce?

What are the restrictions? Remarriage? Visitation? Support? College? Health Insurance?

Statistics Only eighty-one countries are signatories to the Hague Abduction Convention. High performance professionals have a higher rate of divorce than average. The average rate of divorce in the U.S. is 50% while many countries involved in space flight having similar numbers.

Unless there is uniformity in the laws and their applications, families will continue to struggle with the issues involving international family law. Agencies and companies who employ personnel that are moving around the globe and beyond must be prepared to help those families and family law problems extend beyond national boundaries