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In Menechem v Menechem, 246 F.Supp.2d 437 (D. Md.,
2003), the Father, living in Israel, brought a petition seeking a
determination that his former wife was holding his five and three year
old daughters in the United States, in violation of Hague Convention on
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Convention). The
children born in Israel, currently five and three years old had been
resident in United States for over two and one half years, and prior to
the marital discord rising to point that the father moved out, the
couple had enrolled the children in school and began looking for a
house. The District Court held that children were habitually resident in
the United States, precluding any claim of wrongful retention. In
determining whether a child has been "wrongfully retained," in violation
of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child
Abduction the best interest of the children is not a factor. In order to
establish that a child has been wrongfully removed from a country, in
violation of the Hague Convention the petitioner must prove that the
children were habitually resident in the country at the time of the
alleged wrongful retention in another country, the wrongful retention
was in breach of the petitioner's custody rights under the laws of the
country of the children's habitual residence, and the petitioner was
exercising those custody rights at the time of the retention. This suit
seeking an order that mother had wrongfully retained the children in
United States, brought by the father residing in Israel, could be
decided by summary judgment, initiated by court sua sponte after giving
notice of intention and opportunity to supplement the record, without an
evidentiary hearing.
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