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Home / My ex-husband has filed Hague proceedings against me, in Israel. If during Hague convention proceedings, in Israel, the Family Court decides that a our minor children's country of habitual residence is in Sweden, does this mean that the children will automatically be returned there?

My ex-husband has filed Hague proceedings against me, in Israel. If during Hague convention proceedings, in Israel, the Family Court decides that a our minor children’s country of habitual residence is in Sweden, does this mean that the children will automatically be returned there?

By: דיאנה שאלתיאלPublished on: 13 February, 2025

NO! Even if during Hague Convention proceedings, the Family Court finds that the country of habitual residence of the abducted minors concerned is in their country of origin (in your case, Sweden) even so, if the abducting parent (here- you) succeeds in proving by strong evidence, any of the defenses set in the Hague Convention, they will not be returned. In a similar case at the Family Court in Tel Aviv it was ruled that a minor child will not be returned to the US. Although the Family Court there, ruled that the minor child’s Country of habitual residence before her abduction was in the US, the plea was rejected, since it was proven by the abducting mother, that the child’s return without the mother (an Israeli national, who has no legal status in the US) would cause the child grave harm, thus proving the defense of “grave risk) set in The Hague Convention (Family Case # 1392-03-24).


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