International Laws on Child Custody involving India and U.S.

[southasian]

I lived in Boston until August 2007 and then moved to India with my children who are U.S. citizens. I am a green card holder but still have citizenship of India and my husband is Indian citizen too. I had no option but to come to india as i have no financial or family support in U.S. He wouldn't let me work and become independent. He was physically, verbally and emotionally abusive to me and the kids. I never called 911 but my older child once said in school open circle that she is afraid of her father and he hits her and her mother(me) and the social services came to our house. He begged me to lie and promised to change. So like most South Asian women i trusted him and lied. As a result no charges were filed and there was no follow up. But he didn't change and every time i told him i would leave him, when things got unbearable, he would threaten to put false allegations on me and have the Social services take the kids. I could not risk that and didn't know how to escape. Besides that one incident I had no medical records, 911 calls etc. to prove the abuse.

The only way to escape was to come to India and file for divorce and custody here as we were married under Hindu Marriage rites. I filed for both in September 2007 but my husband has filed a case in Boston claiming that i have abducted the children and the court in US has granted him Temporary Sole Custody of children and ordered me to come to boston. I have not submitted to the jurisdiction of US court and hence i am in contempt of that court and they have issued a warrant against me.

My children have settled here beautifully. They go to a good school and are involved in a lot of extra curricular activities.

My questions are:

1. Can I be forced to come to US by the court?
2. Can the children be forced to go to US without me?
3. Is my case strong that i can fight the case from india and get sole custody of kids?
4. I have very limited income and cannot afford to pay a lawyer in US. Is it possible to get lawyers on retained basis so that they can take their fee once the divorce settlement comes through?

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Please tell me if its better for me to just fight my case in India where i filed for divorce and custody before he did.

Desperate for answers.

 

[Duranie]

You really need to talk to a US attorney. I'm not sure if you need an Indian attorney, that is only if it is decided that India has jurisdiction. If the kids were not tehre long enough to meet the requirements, the US might have jurisidction.

You cannot be forced to return to the US but you could be forced to return the kids.

Nobody can tell you what your chances are in getting cusotdy. Do you have any friends or family in the US that can help you get an attorney? You should be able to consult one for free or lwo cost. You might want to even talk to an India attorney to see which country has jurisdiction.