In Doudle v. Gause, 282 F.Supp.2d 922 (N. D. Ind. 2003), the divorced Australian father petitioned for return of the children removed by the mother to the United States. The District Court held that the father was exercising rights of custody over the children at time of their removal.

The father admitted only to allowing the children to accompany the mother on a working trip to the United States, lasting a few months. The mother remarried and had been in United States for three years.