Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois

I have a 6 year old US citizen child. At present I, the father, is in the US and the mother and the child is in India. The mother, in India, was originally there for vacation and would return back to US in the next 1 month. However after 5 months, it has begun to seem that the mother is not so willing to return, though she has yet not conveyed this officially. She is staying in India with her parents. It has been five months since I heard or spoke to my child. The grandparents and mother will not let me talk with her. I have sent several emails.

I haven't had a good relationship with my wife and my in laws in the past some years. We have had 13yrs of marriage out of which 3 yrs have been trouble some. The last 1 yr has been bad.

Now I wanted to ask, in the event of my wife refusing to return or laying down some "stupid" conditions for return or in the worse case filing for divorce in India, can I file an appeal of sorts in the US court asking them for help get the US citizen girl back to her country.

I want the child and feel that my daughter can be better looked after here in the US than India. Also if US is her country of birth then why should she be in India. It makes more sense for my little one to be brought up and taken care of in the US.

So please let me know what are the legal options I have here in the US to get my US citizen child back to her country.

It will be excellent to have a lawyer answer this query.


Asked on 4/29/14, 6:54 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jonathan Shimberg Shimberg and Crohn, P.C.

you allow your daughter to stay in India for six months, US court will no longer have the power to determine her custody. Your permitting her to stay there as long as you have, presents substantial questions regarding which court has the power to determine her custody. As long as there is no case pending in India, you should go there and bring your daughter back her before 6 months run.

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Answered on 4/30/14, 4:52 am


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