Families Across Borders | law, policy, news and views
Hague Developments
Among other news from the Hague Conference this month: An informal “expert group” met on October 8-9, 2012 in The Hague and adopted recommendations regarding the financial aspects of intercountry adoption. The group endorsed and recommended some revisions to a “Discussion Paper on the Financial Aspects of Intercountry Adoption” prepared by the Permanent Bureau and available [...]
Maintenance Convention passes in the U.S. House
Word from Washington D.C. this morning is that H.R. 4282, the bill to implement the Hague Child Support Convention, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday. Titled as the “International Child Support Recovery Improvement Act of 2012,” the legislation now moves to the Senate, which has previously given its advice and consent to ratification of the [...]
Financial Crisis Hits Divorced Dads in Italy
This story describes the desperate financial circumstances of divorced and separate fathers in Italy who cannot keep up with support payments: Elisabetta Povoledo, In Italy, Economy and Law Leave Many Single Fathers Broke and Homeless (NY Times, May 25, 2012).
Maintenance Convention moves forward in Congress
H.R. 4284, the International Child Support Recovery Improvement Act of 2012, was introduced on March 28, 2012 and referred to three House Committees: Ways and Means, Budget, and Judiciary. The bill was drafted to implement the 2007 Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance. Two witnesses testified about the Convention [...]
New Issue: International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family
Online access to the August 2011 issue of the International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family is available here. Articles include: Normann Witzleb, Marriage as the ‘Last Frontier’? Same-Sex Relationship Recognition in Australia; Maria Eriksson, Contact, Shared Parenting, and Violence: Children as Witnesses of Domestic Violence in Sweden; Ali Reda Bariklou, The Wife’s Right [...]
Hague Child Support Legislation Introduced
Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) have introduced S. 1383, the “Strengthen and Vitalize Enforcement of Child Support (SAVE Child Support) Act,” which provides for implementation in the United States of the 2007 Hague Child Support Convention. The bill, which would require all states to enact the 2008 amendments to the Uniform Interstate [...]
EU signs Child Support Convention; Andorra joins Abduction Convention
During the annual General Affairs and Policy meeting of the Hague Conference, the European Union signed the 2007 Child Support Convention and announced that it will become party to the Convention, binding all EU member states, in 2012. At the same meeting, Andorra deposited its instruments of ratification for the Child Abduction Convention, becoming the 85th Contracting State. [...]
Implementing Legislation for Child Support Convention
Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced S.3848 on September 28, 2010. The bill, which was co-sponsored by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), would enact various amendments to the federal child support program under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, including changes needed to implement the Hague Child Support Convention. If enacted, S.3848 would require all states to enact [...]
Senate Approves Child Support Convention
In the late hours last night before adjourning for its pre-election break, the Senate gave its advice and consent to ratification of the 2007 Hague Child Support Convention. Responding to an objection by Senator Jim DeMint, the resolution of ratification was amended to incorporate an additional understanding, which reads: “The United States is not a [...]
Congress Watch: Pending Legislation
As the U.S. Congress approaches the end of its 111th Session, a number of international family law matters are pending. These include the 2007 Hague Child Support Convention, which was reported to the full Senate by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January 2010 with a recommendation that the Senate give its advice and consent to ratification. [...]
