# Hostage taking legal question



## gsco (Mar 30, 2014)

Hi, My wife and I decided to move to Berlin for 1 year with our 2 young boys from Montreal. I am Canadian and she is German. I took a sabbatical from my well paid job and we are renting our house. She has decided that she does not want to move back to Canada in July. The year has been very tough on our marriage to say the least and now with this I feel like I have been taken hostage. All she needs to do is not allow me to take the kids out of the country (they both have a german passport). What do I do? What are my rights in Germany? Let me guess, with a German national mother : no rights?


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Call the consular folks at the embassy, would be your best approach. They would at least be able to refer you to a lawyer (English-speaking if need be). Quite possibly you have no automatic right to return to Canada with your children but without your wife's permission.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

It's not just German law, either. Due to a number of rather "notorious" cases, there are international laws/agreements about children traveling with one parent. Normally, for one parent to take the kids across international borders, they need the permission of the other parent.

The consulate should be able to tell you the details about what form that permission has to take.
Cheers,
Bev


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## _shel (Mar 2, 2014)

Hague convention on child abduction

Very much Law. You can not remove a child from its place of 'usual residence' without the agreement of all with parental responsibility. Citizenships shouldnt matter but a short stay in a country doesnt necessarily make it the kids 'usual residence'

If the law fits though you can use it to have them stopped from leaving or returned.


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## beppi (Jun 10, 2013)

Family courts decide matters of child residence and custody in the best interest of the child - the wishes of the parents are secondary!
Do they have roots here, do they speak the language, do they go to school/kindergarten, how about friends and social contacts? And how do these compare in Canada?


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