Mauvais v. Herisse

Mother and Father had two minor children. The family lived in Canada for approximately three and a half years before Mother relocated the children to the United States, where the entire family had never lived together. Father filed a petition in a federal district court for the return of his children to Canada pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and its implementing statute, the International Child Abduction Remedies Act. A federal district court granted Father’s petition, concluding (1) Canada was the children’s country of habitual residence, and they were wrongfully removed for purposes of the Hague Convention; and (2) there was no grave risk that returning the children to Canada would expose them to physical or psychological harm. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that the district court did not err in (1) finding that Canada was the children’s country of habitual residence; and (2) concluding that returning the children to Canada would not involve a grave risk of physical or psychological harm. View "Mauvais v. Herisse" on Justia Law