International family law focuses on two discrete areas of international practice: (1) private international law, and (2) comparative family law. Key topics include marriage, divorce, custody and movement of children, child support, spousal support, and financial rights and remedies. In addition, there are some areas of developing law, such as parentage and family formation (for example, through adoption or surrogacy) and unmarried partnership rights.
A Primer on International Family Law
[This post is one in a series of primers on different topics in transnational litigation. To access other primers, please click on the “Topics” drop-down menu above.] International family law focuses on two discrete areas of international practice: (1) private international law, and (2) comparative family law. This area of practice is traditionally broken down…
Continue ReadingChoice-of-Law Clauses and Marital Property Law
In a recent law review article, I criticized a unanimous decision of the Washington Supreme Court that enforced the choice-of-law clause in a contract to which only one spouse was a party to determine which jurisdiction’s law governed an issue relating to marital property. In this blog post, I first provide a concise account of…
Continue ReadingInternational Custody Jurisdiction, Human Rights, and Legislative Change
The Court of Appeals of Washington State recently issued an unpublished opinion that will serve as a benchmark for parents who flee certain countries with their children, seeking safe harbor in the United States (In re AlHaidari (Fearing, CJ)). In re AlHaidari Bethany AlHaidari, a U.S. citizen, married Ghassan AlHaidari, a Saudi citizen, in Saudi…
Continue ReadingInternational Child Abduction Remedies Act
Golan v. Saada, 142 S. Ct. 1880 (2022)
Abbott v. Abbott, 560 U.S. 1 (2010)
Hague Convention on Celebration and Recognition of the Validity of Marriages (1974)
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (1980)
Hague Convention on the Recognition of Divorces and Legal Separation (1970)