Federal Crime to Accept Your Child Beyond State Lines in a Divorce?

April 24, 2017 by JACK MKHITARIAN

Experienced Lawyer Answers: Can Divorcing Parents Transport Children Beyond New Mexico State Lines?

kid on a teeter totter with parentsKidnapping is typically associated with a stranger taking a kid who is non biologically related. All the same, there are instances of parental kidnapping in the Us; in some cases, taking your kid across state lines without the permission of the other parent could found parental kidnapping.

While there is no parental kidnapping statute, in that location is a kidnapping law that provides protections to children and parents in the event that one parent tries to abscond the state with a child during a divorce or other domestic situation.

However, for a instance to qualify for kidnapping, it must be established that:

  • The offending parent did not have legal authority to take the child
  • There are court orders in place for custody
  • The parent leaving the country with the child did and so to take him or her away from the other parent

During a divorce, the expanse of parental kidnapping becomes complicated.

Custody Orders Must be in Place

If yous do non take an official custody lodge in identify – which is mutual while going through the process of a divorce – and then either parent has the correct to accept a child, including beyond state lines. If 1 parent takes the child out of schoolhouse and then leaves the state for an extended vacation, he or she has the right to practice so. While peradventure annoying and scary for the other parent, it is non considered kidnapping.

An Intent to Conceal Might exist Different

One parent may be charged with kidnapping if there is an intent to conceal the child. If you were to take your child out of land to proceed or hide the kid from another parent, so you could be arrested for kidnapping.

At that place are defenses to a concealment charge. For example, if y'all took your child across state lines, and you did so to protect the kid from a threat (such as an abusive spouse), your divorce  attorney might argue that you were doing and then to protect – non conceal – the child. You must evidence evidence to the court that the other parent was a risk to the child'southward physical or emotional health at the time when you curtained him or her.

Is information technology a Federal Crime?

Whether it is a federal crime or not comes down to the circumstances of the case. Most kidnapping crimes, including parental kidnapping, are prosecuted past the state of New United mexican states. However, a federal authority will become involved if you legitimately kidnap your own child and accept him or her across the state. Once you cross land borders out of New Mexico, you might face criminal charges.

Felony kidnapping is a serious offense, which carries a harsher prison sentence than the kidnapping offenses in the state. Therefore, information technology is imperative that y'all hire a divorce lawyer to mount a defense to your instance.

Were You Arrested for Kidnapping Your Kid? Contact New Mexico Criminal Law Offices Now

Y'all could have a viable defense force for taking your child, even if there was a court order in place that did not let you to practice so. Speak with an attorney at New Mexico Criminal Police force Offices to explore defenses available to yous at 505-375-4661 or contact the states online with your questions.