children taken away to isle of mann.?

Question

4 years ago my ex took my 2 children away to live in the isle of mann,all i was told was that they were going to ireland for a long weekend.after 5 days away i reported them missing to the police,i then got a phonecall saying where they had gone,but i had to go over there to find out the address so i could take her to court different laws over there so i still dont know where i stand 4 years on not even my solicitor knows what to do.what rights have i got?

Answer 1

Isle of Man law is not the same as English law, so your solicitor or you needs to contact an Isle of Man advocate to get advice. To obtain information on registered legal Practitioners you can contact the Law Society there on 01624 685260.

However, if you had legal custody then the Hague Convention should apply and you should be able to retrieve the children that way.

If you didn't have legal custody - and when parents separate/ divorce very often there is no specific custody order unless the separation is acrimonious - then you need to sort out visiting rights etc with your ex-partner, again through an IoM advocate.

Taking the children away from their settled home now would be very unfair unless they are being ill-treated, but you should stay a part of their lives so that they can make informed choices when they are old enough to do so.

(Although I am female, my children stayed with my ex-husband when we parted as I had to move away and I didn't want to unsettle them - sometimes you have to make the sacrifice for the greater good of the children you love. They are now 25 and 22 and we have a very good relationship).

Answer 2

if you were in the US i would tell you to contact the FBI..but assuming you are from the UK and they are in British Isles and not under the UK's domain. Contact Interpol and see if they can be of assistance: http://www.interpol.int

INTERPOL
General Secretariat
200, quai Charles de Gaulle
69006 Lyon
France

Fax: [phone]


Postal address:
Europol
P.O. Box 908 50
2509 LW The Hague
The Netherlands

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Answer 3

Presumably a court in England and Wales made an order granting your custody of the children. That order is enforceable in the Isle of Man.

In the past the legal differences between various parts of the British Isles caused conflicts of jurisdiction where proceedings could be brought in respect of the same child in different parts of the United Kingdom at the same time. Orders made in one court were not necessarily recognised or enforceable in other courts which made it possible for parents to ignore an order obtained in one part of the United Kingdom, remove the child to another part and institute fresh proceedings there in the hope of obtaining a different result.

Part I of the Family Law Act of 1986 was passed to deal with these problems. The Act aims to prevent competing proceedings being commenced in two different parts of the United Kingdom at the same time. It also allows orders made in one part of the United Kingdom to be recognised and enforceable in all parts. This includes the Isle of Man but does not include the Channel Islands nor the Overseas Dependent Territories.

The party wishing to have an order enforced in another part of the United Kingdom should apply to the court which made the order. That court will then forward the papers to the appropriate court in the other part of the United Kingdom, which will then register it.

A court in one part of the country may order that a child may not be removed from the United Kingdom or part of it which the court may specify. If the child is removed in contravention of an order, the child has to be returned from where he or she was taken and only the court which made the original order may give consent to the child being removed from the United Kingdom.

A court may also order passports to be surrendered, the disclosure of the child's whereabouts or particulars of other proceedings concerning him or her and may give special authority to an officer of the court or constable to ensure the recovery of the child.

Orders made in the Isle of Man are recognised and enforceable throughout the United Kingdom and vice versa.

The Hague Convention has been extended to the Isle of Man, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Monserat and Bermuda. Local specialist legal advice should be taken in the event of an abduction between the Channel Islands or the Dependant Territories and other parts of the United Kingdom.

Answer 4

i would suggest you get a different lawyer, one who specialises in this type of case.

a good lawyer would have worked out something by now.

4 years is a bloody long time and i hope you've kept up some sort of visitation with your kids otherwise you'll have a hell of a job getting them back

good luck though and hope it works out for you.

lol

xxxxxx

Answer 5

if you would of gone over there and fought to get them you would have a leg to stand on. if you have not made any effort to go there your out of luck. i think they are better off there. at least they don't have to deal with all the illegal crap going on in America. the law would rather leave the kids with the mother, but any way good luck. and happy new year.

Answer 6

Hi Andie,

Go with what Caicos has told you, He is very reliable.