Texas Attorneys Battle Legal Minefield in International Child Custody Case

San Antonio, Texas, August 18, 2015 (Newswire.com) - ​​The fate of two children ages, four and six now rests in the hands of the Texas Supreme Court.

Natalie Baker, the children’s mother and her husband are U.S. citizens who worked for the last couple of years with the U.S. Department of State in the United Arab Emirates. Baker filed for divorce from her husband in Bexar County, Texas, where they maintain legal residence. However, two courts ruled any child custody hearings must be conducted in their “home state,” where they resided for the last six months.

"When our men and women serve our country abroad, they do so with the expectation that their courts back home will protect them. The recent Texas appellate court decision, which would apply to everyone stationed overseas with their families for military or diplomatic service, opens up the possibility that their children's fate will be decided by a country other than the one which they courageously serve.

Jamie L. Graham, Texas Family Law Attorney

Baker’s attorneys at the San Antonio law firm of Jamie Graham & Associates have filed a motion for emergency stay with the Texas Supreme Court to allow Baker to continue to fight to move the custody battle to Bexar County rather than the U.A.E. where the law varies greatly from U.S. law.

Jamie L. Graham worries about the precedent the appellate court ruling would set for American service members and diplomats stationed abroad with their families. She explained, “When our servicemen and women serve our country abroad, they do so with the expectation that their courts back home will protect them,” Graham added. “The appellate court decision, which would apply to everyone stationed overseas with their families for military or government service, opens up the possibility that their children’s fate will be decided by a country other than the one which they courageously serve. This is especially alarming when the country we’re talking about is not a member to the Hague Abduction Convention and that country’s child custody laws violate fundamental principles of human rights.”

Sarah Anne Lishman, an attorney with Graham’s law firm, stated, “Natalie is not trying to deprive her husband of his rights to see her children. She's in hiding right now to keep her children from being forcibly removed from this country and taken to the United Arab Emirates.”

If returned to the U.A.E., the children’s future will be in jeopardy, as there is no guarantee that they will ever be returned to the United States. Not only is the U.A.E. is not a member of The Hague Abduction Convention, but also there are no bilateral agreements in place between the U.S. and the U.A.E. that would provide an international legal framework for the return of children abducted to or wrongfully held in that country.

Once in the U.A.E., there is the additional risk that courts in that county might assert jurisdiction of their own, which would result in the American children’s custody being determined by Sharia law. This is particularly troubling to Baker due to the U.A.E. Sharia Court’s pattern of sex-based discrimination and because all proceedings would be conducted in Arabic, a language she does not speak fluently. In addition, the U.A.E. allows husbands to seize passports of their wives and children, preventing them from ever leaving the country. The country also sanctions physical force and even violence against women and children

 “We’re doing all we can to protect Mrs. Baker and these children from a legal standpoint.” Graham said. “But what we really need are good Americans who find this situation as outrageous as we do to step up and call on the courts and legislature to clarify this statute, so that the children are protected from a merciless and unjust legal system”