Brazil court delays custody ruling on US boy

The American father at the centre of an international child custody battle will have to wait another day at the very least to learn whether his nine-year-old son can return with him to the US from Brazil.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Gilmar Mendes had been expected to rule on Sean Goldman's case yesterday, then today.

The decision will likely not come down until tomorrow.

Sean’s mother took him on vacation to Brazil in June 2004, but instead of returning to New Jersey, she divorced his father David Goldman and remarried in Brazil.

His mother, Bruna Bianchi, died last year, but Sean's stepfather Joao Paulo Lins e Silva continued to raise him in Brazil and has claimed custody rights.

Also today, Silva’s lawyer Sergio Tostes issued a statement denying reports that Sean would return to the US if his maternal grandmother Silvana Bianchi was allowed to accompany him on the flight.

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The foster child thought she had nobody left to love her. She was wrong.

The search begins inside a sparse office in a corner of the St. Louis family court.

Carlos Lopez, a 6-foot private investigator with a disarming smile, and his partner Sheila Suderwalla sit at a computer side by side, scouring court records, police files, motor vehicle records, occupancy permits and mug shots — any clue that would lead them to a woman named Karen.

Karen is not a wanted criminal. And the partners are not looking to solve a crime.

Suderwalla, a petite social worker with a driven passion for the underdog, and Lopez are on the trail of something far more elusive: a lost relative with a heart big enough and bloodlines strong enough to change the life of a 15-year-old foster child.

Her name is Lisa, and she feels as if she has nobody.

Lisa doesn't know it yet, but she is at the center of a groundbreaking $2 million federally funded St. Louis program called Extreme Recruitment, one of the first programs in the nation that partners social workers with private investigators in a gumshoe effort to reunite foster children with long-lost family members.

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Supreme Court overturns ruling barring mom's move

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The Idaho Supreme Court has overturned a lower court decision barring an Idaho mother from moving to another state after her divorce.
The justices concluded Friday that that 6th District Magistrate Judge Gaylen Box had no authority to prevent Aneka Allbright from moving to Michigan with her new husband.

Read more here. 

Joe Jackson Sent Packing by Child-Custody Agreement

Joe Jackson might want to start scanning the "Roommates Wanted" section of Craigslist.

Showbiz 411 reports that the child-custody agreement forged between deceased King of Pop Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe and Jackson's mother Katherine has a non-negotiable clause that Jackson's father Joe must move out of the family home in Encino, California.

Read more here.

Fight for Custody Rights of Military Parents

Lieutenant Eva Slusher, a Kentucky mother and member of the National Guard, was shocked in 2004 when she returned from deployment to find she had lost custody of her daughter. A costly and timely custody battle later that included her military service used against her, Slusher regained custody of her daughter. Ohio Congressman Michael Turner heard about her plight and has introduced a bill that would not allow military service to be used against a parent in a custody case.

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Dad's Custody Battle Hits "Brick Wall"

It's been more than two years since 5-year-old Liam McCarty was taken from his home in New York, and brought illegally to Rome by his mother.

Now 8, Liam is not living with either of his parents, but rather at an orphanage facility run by Italian Social Services because his mother was deemed unfit to parent. The child's father

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2 families vie for custody of baby girl taken from womb

Two families are seeking custody of the newborn authorities are calling Baby Jane Doe, the child stolen from her mother’s womb last month. But for at least the next month, the child will remain in state custody, a judge ruled during a closed-door hearing yesterday in Worcester Juvenile Court.

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Morocco and Norway in International Child Custody Case

A child custody battle between a Moroccan former Olympic athlete and his estranged Norwegian wife has strained diplomatic ties after Morocco said Norway helped spirit the two children away from their father.

Read more here.

Custody of Michael Jackson's Children Still Up In The Air

Who will win custody of Michael Jackson's three children? Many variables seem like they could affect the outcome.

Jackson's will names his mother as guardian (or in her absence, Diana Ross).

His ex-wife Debbie Rowe tried to disclaim her status as a legal parent, and then returned to court and had the termination of her rights overturned.

Read more here.

RI Court Revokes Custody Rights for Illegal Immigrant

An illegal immigrant from Mexico who was deported after her 2005 conviction on child neglect and cruelty charges has permanently lost custody of her two young children, one of whom was born in Mexico, the other in Rhode Island.

The children — who have been in the custody of the state Department of Children, Youth and Families — have been living together in a Rhode Island foster home for several years and the foster parents now plan to adopt them, according to a lawyer for the DCYF. The son will be 8 in August; the daughter turned 5 last week.

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WV Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Gay Couple

The West Virginia Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a same-sex couple fighting to retain custody of an 18-month-old foster child.

In an unsigned opinion issued Friday, the court barred enforcement of a Fayette County Circuit Court order that the girl should be taken away from Kathryn Kutil and Cheryl Hess. Judge Paul Blake Jr. had ruled the child should be placed with a heterosexual couple who might adopt her.

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Fake Rockefeller "Wanted Custody"

Christian Gerhartsreiter - who called himself Clark Rockefeller - is accused of abducting seven-year-old Reigh Boss.

His British ex-wife, Sandra Boss, told a Boston court he made the threats when she said she was considering divorce.

Mr Gerhartsreiter's lawyers claim he suffers from delusions and did not know it was wrong to snatch the child.

Read more here.

Alleged Neo-Nazi Parents in Custody Battle

Just seven years old, she showed up at school with neo-Nazi propaganda written all over her body, calmly described how to kill black people, and spoke proudly about white people being superior to all other races.

Now the disturbing views of the girl are at the centre of a heated child-custody case that began Monday in Winnipeg.

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Lawyers Reaching Custody Agreement in International Kidnapping Case

A custody agreement between the parents of a 3-year-old girl kidnapped by her Russian mother from France in March should be finalized in a few weeks, a French lawyer for the girl's mother, Irina Belenkaya, said Monday.

The agreement will provide for the girl to live either in France or Russia, and one of the parents could voluntarily move to the country of the girl's residence, said prominent Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, who is helping draft the agreement to bring an end to the high-profile custody battle.

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Woman Caught After Dodging Child Support

Authorities Monday arrested a Camden-area woman who assumed a fake identity for more than seven years to avoid paying about $30,000 in child support in Lexington County, Sheriff James Metts said.

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NBA Star's Child Support Case Dismissed

A court in Maryland dismissed a child support case against NBA star Chris Bosh last week, upholding Bosh's claim that the state did not have jurisdiction in the case.

Bosh, a forward for the Toronto Raptors, argued that the state had no jurisdiction in the case even though his former girlfriend, Allison Mathis, gave birth to their daughter in Maryland in November.

Prior to the birth, Bosh had petitioned Texas to resolve the child custody and child support for the couple's unborn child.

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Custody Judges Rule on Parental Vengeance

The scope of the courts' reach into family affairs has long been contentious, but a recent trend in Canada's legal system has brought a new controversy that has some onlookers praising judges and others condemning them for accepting what they call "voodoo science."

More than ever before, Canada's judges are recognizing that some children of divorced and warring parents are not simply living an unfortunate predicament, but rather are victims of child abuse and suffering from Parental Alienation Syndrome.

Though debate swirls as to whether the occurrence should be termed a syndrome, a disorder, or simply ‘parental alienation,' Canadian and American judges, lawyers, and psychologists are increasingly buying into a view that sees programming a child to despise a non-custodial parent as grounds for removing the "brainwashed" child from the alienating parent's custody - or what is known in the extreme as a court-ordered "parentectomy."

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Extended Stay Child Care Helps Parents Get Back on Feet

In a desperate but loving attempt to get their lives on track, Samer and Yvette Assaf handed their children to strangers nine days ago.

The overwhelmed young couple—both 19—plan to spend two months saving money from their retail jobs, moving into an apartment and buying a car. Then they will return for their children.

In the meantime Baylee, 2, and Julian, 2 months, will live with different families in Des Plaines who volunteer with Safe Families for Children, a rapidly growing non-profit. The network places children with host families while their parents try to mend their broken lives.

"We both cried," said Samer Assaf, 19, who lives with his in-laws in Westchester. "It was like we lost everything ... but we know it's not forever. In a good way, it motivated us to get out and get a job and concentrate."

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NYC Proud of Millions More in Child Support

Economic indicators are pointing upward in at least one place in the city: The Office of Child Support Enforcement increased the amount of collections for child support payments in 2008 by more than $50 million over the previous year.

New York City collected $670.6 million in child support monies in 2008, increasing its total by more than 8 percent from the previous year’s tally of $620 million, according to the Human Resources Administration (HRA), which oversees collection efforts.

“The increased collections in New York City are nothing short of extraordinary, and are a major factor in the record-setting collections achieved in New York State in 2008,” said David Hansell, commissioner of the state’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, in a statement last month.

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Bench Warrant Sweeps Widened to Owed Child Support

The search for deadbeat Lapeer County fathers and mothers will fan out to neighboring counties for the first time.

Bench warrant sweeps of parents failing to pay their child support will continue in 2009 in Lapeer County and be expanded into Oakland, Macomb and Genesee counties. Circuit Court Judge Michael Higgins and Circuit Court Judge Justus Scott, family court judges, will conduct hearings on those arrested, said Friend of the Court Emil H. Joseph, Jr.

"We've never gone beyond the county borders, and we're entering into an agreement with other jurisdictions to get positive results," Joseph said. "Our primary resource before was when an out of county person was pulled over and we'd run them through LEIN (law enforcement information network.) They'd take them into custody, and we'd pick them up and bring them to Lapeer."

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Simmons to Pay $40,000 a Month in Child Support

Court records show Russell Simmons has agreed to pay $40,000 a month in child support. Los Angeles Superior Court judge Marjorie Steinberg signed off on an agreement Thursday giving Kimora Lee Simmons sole custody of the couple's two daughters, nine-year-old Ming and six-year-old Aoki. The couple's divorce was finalized in January. Kimora Lee Simmons filed for divorce in March 2008, citing irreconcilable differences.

Russell Simmons, the 51-year-old hip-hop mogul, was granted visitation rights and must pay child support until each daughter reaches 19 and a half years of age.

Read more here.

Mom Loses Custody for Alienating Dad

In a stunning and unusual family law decision, a Toronto judge has stripped a mother of custody of her three children after the woman spent more than a decade trying to alienate them from their father.

The mother's "consistent and overwhelming" campaign to brainwash the children into thinking their father was a bad person was nothing short of emotional abuse, Justice Faye McWatt of the Superior Court of Justice wrote in her decision.

The three girls, ages 9 to 14, were brought to a downtown courthouse last Friday and turned over to their father, a vascular surgeon identified only as A.L.

Read more at the Toronto Star.

FLDS Case Drops From 426 to 13 Children

Only 13 children remain under court jurisdiction in the ongoing custody case involving children from the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch in Texas.

Texas Child Protective Services has officially "nonsuited" 426 children, leaving only 13 left in what was once the nation's largest child custody case. Agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins confirmed to the Deseret News on Tuesday the four remaining legal cases involve children from three mothers.

Read the rest of the story at Deseret News.

Same-Sex Custody Battle Frustrating to Non-Biological Mother

Lisa Lewis wants to see the child she considers her daughter.

It’s been more than a year since she saw or spoke to the girl, who is now 7, and a custody battle between Ms. Lewis and the girl’s biological mother has been going on for almost two years.

Ms. Lewis, 41, and Jeannette Rowan, both of Sharon, lived together as a couple for 11 years before splitting up when the child they’d raised together was 5 years old, Ms. Lewis said.

The couple wasn’t married, but courts have found Ms. Lewis has standing to seek custody of the child.

Read more info at The Herald.

"Gossip Girl" Star Involved in Messy Custody Battle

"Gossip Girl" star Kelly Rutherford, who filed divorce papers last month, fears her estranged husband will vanish with their son.

The star is seeking to bar David Giersch from leaving America with their 2-year-old son, Hermes.

Meanwhile, Giersch has filed papers in Los Angeles alleging the actress, who is pregnant with the couple's second child, once threw a laptop computer at him in a rage.

Both parties are seeking sole physical custody of their son with monitored visitation.

Filing emergency papers at the end of last week, the actress asked court officials to bar Giersch from traveling outside the United States with their son.

In a declaration, she said, "I feel there is some risk that he will leave the country with Hermes and I will not know where they are."

Read more at SFGate.com

Custody Dispute Turns Violent, Deadly

Dublin police say a 91-year-old homicide victim, whose body was dumped into her own trash can, was choked, hit over the head and Tasered before she died.

But which injury caused the death of Selma "Sally" Hill has not yet been determined by the coroner, said Dublin police Lt. Glenn Moon.

Hill may have been the bystander in a bizarre custody dispute over her 2-year-old great granddaughter, police say.

Read the rest of the story at The Mercury News.

Minnesota Considering Change to Custody Laws

Fathers in Minnesota may soon see changes to the method used to determine child custody in cases of divorce.

Currently, when parents split up, a judge who is making custody decisions begins with a clean slate about living arrangements and takes a number of factors including parenting skills and parents' wishes into account, Minnesota Public Radio reports.

A new legislative proposal seeks to change that so that the judge would presume joint physical custody from the outset.

Read more about the proposed changes at GreatDad.com.

Deployed Soldiers Fighting Child Custody Battles

Army Sgt. Stephanie Greer was serving with a vehicle-maintenance unit in the volatile Iraqi city of Ramadi, part of President Bush’s “surge” strategy to stabilize the country, when she learned of a far-off and most unexpected battle: Her estranged husband was going to fight her for custody of their daughter.

Greer had temporary custody of Mackenzie when she began her second deployment to Iraq in early 2007. Her husband was to care for the 7-year-old while Greer was overseas, but soon he challenged that arrangement in divorce proceedings. “He said I was unstable because I was deployed or training too much,” she said.

As a result, throughout her 15-month combat tour, Greer had to mount from 4,000 miles away a legal campaign to keep her daughter.

Read the rest of this story at The Fayetteville Observer.