DIVORCE HEADQUARTERS NEWSLETTER       Issue #34           April 2003 Know someone else going through the process? If you think they could benefit from this newsletter feel free to pass it on in it's entirety to them. "Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden Don't forget to mention DivorceHQ.com when contacting the divorce professionals listed on the site. In this Issue: Paternity Fraud Bill Approved By House Of Representatives Child Abduction     By Maury D. Beaulier, Esquire Read All About It Divorce Humor 1. Paternity Fraud Bill Approved By House Of Representatives Illinois may become the first state to criminalize paternity fraud in America. On Tuesday, March 25, after heated debate, my Paternity Fraud Bill 2267 passed the full Illinois House of Representatives. Jeffery M. Leving, Attorney at law and founder of www.dadsrights.com drafted this Bill seeking to criminalize paternity fraud so that a person who knowingly and falsely accuses another of being the biological father of a child will be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail. According to Mr. Leving, "It's time to pass 'paternity fraud' legislation, and here's why": "As a result of the availability of DNA paternity testing, men are discovering in alarming numbers that children they believed were their biological offspring are not. It was reported that in 28% of paternity tests conducted in one study, the man being tested was not the biological father. Nevertheless, many of these men continue to be liable for child support for other men's children or suffer the consequences of jail. This is a terrible problem in this country, where 33% of all children born are born out-of-wedlock". "Who is being hurt by this injustice? A child is being hurt where a man known not to be the father is forced to play the role. Criminalizing paternity fraud may help prevent many children from becoming emotionally scarred in this deception that exists and currently is sanctioned by some of our courts". The girl's mother led the child to believe that her husband was her biological father. The girl's natural father is currently serving a prison term for homicide. The following is an excerpt from an article submitted by one of our professional members. For full text of all articles visit Divorcehq.com/articles.html 2. Child Abduction         Maury D. Beaulier, Esquire Divorce rates continue to rise and our world grows smaller with each leap in technology making international travel commonplace. With these societal changes, a dramatic increase has been seen in child abductions and child kidnappings by custodial and non-custodial parents. The goal of the abductor in such child abduction and parental kidnapping cases is to frustrate court proceedings regarding custody. Political and judicial differences between countries as well as differing societal views on men's and women's role in society make child abduction cases difficult at best. To address growing concerns regarding child abduction, many countries have adopted a treaty designed to expedite the return of children wrongfully removed to their home country. This treaty is called the Hague Convention. The Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction : If a judicial proceeding is initiated, the court must act expeditiously. Article 11 gives the applicant or the Central Authority of the Requested State the right to demand a statement from the court detailing the reasons for delay if a decision has not been made within six weeks from the commencement of proceedings. There need not be a custody decree in effect in order to trigger the return provisions under the Convention. The elements of a cause of action for the return of an abducted child under the Hague Convention on the civil aspects of child abduction and International Child Abduction Remedies Act are that: child was habitually resident of the country from which the child was abducted; petitioning parent had either sole or joint rights of custody of the child either through a custody order or du jure (by operation of law), and at time of wrongfully removal, petitioning parent was exercising those rights. International Child Abduction Remedies Act, Section 4 (e)(2)(A), 42 U.S.C. Section 11603 (e)(2)(A). The burden of proof in proving the application of the Hague Convention falls upon the Petitioning party and must be shown by a preponderance of the evidence. If the Court determines that a Petitioning party has proved the criteria for Application of the Hague Convention, the burden of proof tips to the opposing party. The Responding parent then may still prove that an affirmative defense prevents the return of the child under the Hague Convention. 42 U.S.C. Section 11603 (e)(2)(A)(b); Hague Convention Art. 12, 13(b) and 20. See also Friedrich v.Friedrich,983 F.2d 11396 (6th Cir. 1993). Affirmative defenses under the Hague Convention include the claim that the parents seeking relief under the Hague Convention was aware of the Child's presence in the new country and failed to act for more than a year. Additional defenses that may be raised include claims that the petitioning parent was not exercising any custodial rights, by his/her own choice, when the child was removed from the home country. Finally, Court's may refuse to return a child to a Petitioning parent and that child's home country under the Hague Convention if it finds that "there is a grave risk that if returned child would be expose to physical and psychological harm or otherwise placed in to an intolerable situation." It is significant that the 8th Circuit Court's decision in Rydder v. Rydder, F.3d 369, 373(8th cir.1995), suggests that "specific evidence of potential harm" to a child as a result of separation from a primary care giver may constitute grave risk of harm under the Hague Convention. In that case a mother relied upon several authorities "that recognized that separating a child from his or her primary care giver creates a risk of psychological harm." For the full the online version of Mr. Beaulier's article go to:http://www.divorcehq.com/articles/abduction.html ABOUT THE AUTHOR Maury D. Beaulier is the founder of The Beaulier Law Office which has developed a large and active family law practice dedicated to providing each family law client with detailed information about every element of their case. He can be contacted by phone at (952)831-5000 or e-mail him at Lawyers@Beaulier.com or visit his web site at http://www.divorceprofessionals.com He can be contacted by phone at (952)746-2153 or or Visit Web Site 3. Read All About It Are you considering divorce? Just filed for divorce? Has your spouse just told you they want a divorce? Maybe you are already divorced. Having the legalities behind you does not mean all your divorce issues are resolved; in fact, some of them may just be starting. Whatever stage you are in you are probably looking for information on the subject. Sir Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power." The Internet is an outstanding source to find books on a wide range of divorce topics. We have searched the Internet for you and have come up with a diversified collection of books that may help you through this trying time. These books are for men, women and children. There are books for each stage from beginning the divorce to recovery. Take a look. http://www.divorcehq.com/divorcebooks.html If you are interested in books that you can download directly from the Internet, we have found those for you as well. http://www.divorcehq.com/onlinebooks.html 4. HUMOR Half of all marriages end in divorce. That's not as bad as it sounds. The other half ended in death. anonymous