Stabilize the situation
Understand current orders, travel risks, deadlines, safety concerns, and whether emergency relief may be necessary.
International Child Abduction Representation
Hague Convention Representation for Parents Seeking or Opposing a Child’s Return.
Focused representation for parents seeking a child’s return—and parents opposing return—under the Hague Convention and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act.
Hague proceedings move quickly. Early legal and evidentiary decisions can shape the entire case.
Start here
Which side of the case are you on?
Petitioning parent
A child was taken to—or kept in—the United States
You may need an expedited return petition, immediate preservation of evidence, and a clear account of the child’s habitual residence and your custody rights.
Learn about filing a return petition → Responding parentYou have been asked to return a child
The Convention’s defenses are narrow and fact-intensive. Your response may require trauma evidence, foreign records, expert testimony, and rapid federal-court preparation.
Learn about defending a return petition →The first response
Urgency with discipline.
A Hague case is not a conventional custody dispute. The central question is ordinarily where custody issues should be decided—not which parent should ultimately have custody. The opening days should be used to secure records, identify the controlling legal issues, and build a case for an expedited hearing.
Preserve the proof
Secure messages, travel records, school and medical information, custody documents, translations, and foreign investigative materials.
Frame the Convention issues
Analyze habitual residence, custody rights, exercise of those rights, timing, and any Article 12, 13, or 20 defenses.
Prepare for federal court
Develop witness examinations, expert evidence, exhibits, briefing, and a record that can withstand appellate review.
Return claims and defenses
The Convention is powerful. Its exceptions are precise.
Representation must begin with the treaty’s text, ICARA’s burdens of proof, controlling precedent, and the evidence that can actually be presented on an accelerated schedule. No defense applies merely because remaining in the United States may seem preferable.
Grave risk of harm
Whether return would expose the child to a grave risk of physical or psychological harm or otherwise place the child in an intolerable situation.
Consent or acquiescence
Whether the left-behind parent agreed to the move or later accepted the child’s continued residence after learning the relevant facts.
Mature child’s objection
Whether a child of sufficient age and maturity genuinely objects to return, as distinct from expressing an ordinary preference.
Well-settled child
In qualifying cases filed more than one year after wrongful removal or retention, whether the child is now settled in the new environment.
No wrongful removal or retention
Whether the petitioner had and was exercising custody rights under the law of the child’s habitual residence at the relevant time.
Fundamental freedoms
The narrow Article 20 inquiry into whether return would violate fundamental principles concerning human rights and fundamental freedoms.
This overview is general information. The availability and proof of any claim or defense depend on the particular facts and governing law.
Counsel for a demanding forum
Trial judgment. Federal-court rigor. Direct access.
William Lloyd Roelke, Jr. is an experienced Florida trial lawyer and former federal judicial law clerk. His Hague Convention experience includes contested federal return proceedings, Article 13(b) grave-risk, well-settled child, and consent or acquiescence defenses; child-psychology, trauma, and abuse evidence; foreign investigations and translated records; expedited evidentiary hearings; emergency stay practice; and Eleventh Circuit appellate proceedings. Review the Florida and Eleventh Circuit case framework →
Former law clerk to U.S. District Judge Anthony A. AlaimoFederal judicial experience that informs careful briefing, evidentiary preparation, and courtroom presentation.
Roelke Law, P.A. intentionally limits the matters it accepts so each Hague case receives direct attorney involvement from the initial factual assessment through hearing and, when necessary, appeal.
Delay can become part of the case.
If an international removal, retention, or return demand has occurred, obtain advice before informal arrangements, travel, or communications alter the record.
Speak with William RoelkeFrequently asked questions
Clear answers at the outset.
Is a Hague case the same as a custody case?
No. A Hague proceeding generally determines whether a child should be returned to the country of habitual residence so custody can be decided there. It ordinarily does not decide permanent custody.
How quickly do these cases move?
The Convention calls for expeditious proceedings, and courts often impose compressed deadlines for discovery, expert work, briefing, and hearing preparation. Prompt consultation is important on both sides.
Can the court refuse return because the child is better off here?
That is generally not the governing question. A parent opposing return must establish a recognized Convention defense under the applicable burden of proof. The analysis is fact-specific and often narrow.
What evidence should I preserve?
Preserve travel and immigration records, custody orders, school and medical records, messages, photographs, financial and housing information, police or child-protection materials, and communications showing consent, objection, or timing. Do not alter or selectively delete digital evidence.
Can psychological harm support a grave-risk defense?
Potentially. The issue is not simply whether a child has experienced distress, but whether the evidence establishes the grave risk required by Article 13(b). A qualified expert and a carefully defined clinical inquiry may be important.
Can you guarantee that my child will—or will not—be returned?
No. Hague cases are highly fact-dependent, and no lawyer can guarantee a result. A focused early assessment can identify the strongest legal path and the proof needed to pursue it.
Prompt case assessment
Tell us where the child is, when the move occurred, and whether a case has been filed.
For the first conversation, have the countries involved, key dates, existing custody orders, any hearing deadline, and the child’s present location available. Do not send highly sensitive documents until secure delivery arrangements are confirmed.
Call(904) 758-4333
Office2788 Oak Street
Jacksonville, Florida 32205
Request a Consultation
Jacksonville, Florida 32205
Contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. Do not include confidential or time-sensitive information unless the firm has agreed to represent you.