Most parenting plans address the issues of parental access, that is visitation between parents and their children. In international situations there are practical and legal problems that have to be considered when any such agreement is drafted or if the issues of international access are being litigated.

The first is practical issues keeping in mind that many judges haven’t traveled internationally, they have no idea what is involved in transporting ones self between the United States and, of example, Pakistan. That can be as many as three flights. It can involve layovers in a number of countries, and if children are being transferred via air travel, understanding what has to happen in order to get them from point A to point B would be an important issue for any judge and presenting those issues to the court, addressing those issues would be very important to get an enforceable order.

Practical issues include the costs. While it is one thing to put in an agreement that there is an agreement to international access if the practical issues of cost, who pays for the ticket, how are those tickets going to be arranged, does there have to be an agreement on the days of travel, will the children’s school schedule be impacted by international travel. What happens if flights are delayed, who’s responsible to make the calls? All of these elements have to be considered or the parental issues associated with co-parenting will, I promise you, begin to unravel.

Very often child support orders and maintenance orders don’t take into account what the costs and the circumstances of international access are going to be and the practical effect is that children don’t get to see their parents. That’s a bad idea.

We’d like to bring to the table a, a serious view of any international access issues. Any issues, for example, of international schooling of children. Many of our clients’ children are being educated abroad. Those issues concern school breaks, travel -- again whether parental access will be conducted in what countries and under what circumstances, the entry of mirror orders to ensure enforceability in any of the countries involved have to be done so that everybody can be sure that the rights and responsibilities associated with parenting and educating the children can be dealt with.

One of the other issues about international access is that circumstances change. And when those circumstances change how are those access arrangements going to be modified to be made enforceable. We’re familiar with the Hague Convention on the civil aspects of child abduction which includes under Article 21 the organization of rights of access. Each of the signator countries has a different way of approaching, addressing the organization of rights of access. In some countries that means making an administrative application through the central authority. In others a judicial application must be made by filing a motion. Still other countries are not signators to bilateral agreements and in those circumstances an application for modification may need to be made. If there is not a reservation of jurisdiction, if a mechanism wasn’t done in the original divorce determinations to provide for those issues then that, then that has to be dealt with by litigation or by agreement.

For some of our clients there is a desire to have those issues mediated or arbitrated and the issues of ongoing international access lend themselves particularly to international arbitration. We can draft an agreement and often do in which choice of law, the place of arbitration, even naming the arbitrators can be done. Resolution to certain religious courts can be set forth in advance along with the parameters to be addressed with regard to what type of modifications can be permitted, where they will be permitted and under what boundaries they’ll be permitted.

By doing that in advance, by contemplating it in advance, it ensures that international issues of access, which boil down to children being able to have a predictable way of seeing and enjoying time with both of their parents can be assured.