The Divorce Chronicles Episode #4 Melissa Kucinski
The Impact of International Family Law Issues During the Divorce Process With Guest Melissa Kucinski
Melissa Kucinski is a family law attorney and mediator practicing in the DC and Maryland area. She has created a unique niche in the family law area and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in international family law. She has served as a consultant to the Hague Conference on Private International Law and has written a dozen articles on international children’s issues and mediation of complex cross-border custody and abduction cases.
There is no one better than Melissa to share the ins and outs of the Hague Treaty. Melissa has also presented at nearly 30 national and international conferences on international children’s issues. She is a Fellow of the International Academy of Lawyers. She is also a professor at the George Washington University School of Law where she has been teaching international family law since 2010. She is the author of A Practical Handbook for the Child’s Attorney: Effectively Representing Children in Custody Cases. It’s an honor to have her on the show today.
You can find Melissa here:
A Practical Handbook for the Child’s Attorney: Effectively Representing Children in Custody Cases
Show Notes:
[03:01] Melissa has been through the divorce process herself. It was in a state where she was not licensed to practice law. Each state has slightly different laws.
[03:37] Going through her own divorce gave Melissa a different perspective.
[05:59] Melissa practices all family law in Washington DC and Maryland, but she has a particular interest in focusing on families who have cross jurisdictional or international issues.
[06:31] She has had an interest in working with diverse people with diverse ways of life, ever since college.
[07:13] It's very complex dealing with laws in multiple jurisdictions. She is practicing true law.
[08:10] Melissa was fortunate to connect with family law at an early stage in her education. Working with international families was a wonderful experience.
[11:06] Families going through restructuring who have international connections need to talk to a lawyer who understands these complex issues.
[12:15] The process for dealing with international issues. There needs to be a collaboration of lawyers in all of the different jurisdictions.
[16:26] How are orders enforced either overseas or in the US? It depends on the issue and the country of enforcement.
[18:48] Dealing with property issues in different jurisdictions. A complicating factor of overseas assets is that the laws in other countries are very different.
[23:53] Child abduction and parents taking their children overseas. Children are often taken by people they know like a parent or family member.
[24:24] There is always the question of whether another country will honor an order given in the United States.
[25:11] There are some laws in the United States that make taking a child overseas a crime. The criminal path is the worst-case scenario.
[26:18] There are civil remedies. One of these is the