Matthew Brickman Explains How Parenting Plans Safeguard Against Parental Kidnapping and Abduction

JUPITER, Fla. - Nov. 7, 2013 - PRLog -- What Constitutes Parental Kidnapping?

Parental kidnapping is when one parent attempts to conceal, retain or physically bring one or more children into any geographical location that violates the rights of the other parent. There are thousands of cases of parental abduction every year both inside and outside the confines of U.S. borders. The act is illegal and violates laws of all U.S. states and properties.

iChatMediation is a Florida based, professional mediation service offered by iMediate Inc. that provides mediation services to divorcing couples involved in legal disputes such as child custody and parental kidnapping. Its founder, Matthew Brickman is a Florida Supreme Court certified and county civil family mediator who has worked in the 15^th and 19^th Judicial Circuit Court since 2009 and 2006 respectively.



Since mediation is mandatory in the state of Florida if you are a divorcing couple with children, Mr. Brickman specializes in helping parents create parenting plans to safeguard against parental abduction.

Creating a Parenting Plan

In his Mediation 101 video series Matthew Brickman recently stated, "If you come to mediation and you have childen then you will be creating a parenting plan and that parenting plan is going to create safeguards for parental kidnapping. When it comes to traveling with your child whether it's in the same state, out of state or out of the country you will need to simply give notification to the other party providing a detailed itinerary including locations and telephone numbers where the child and the other parent can be reached. And you do this because both parents need to always know where the child is at all times."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVMzO1qKzwI



Parental Kidnapping Laws in Florida allow for a 48-hour discrepancy after the visitation time is over. If the child is not returned within 48-hours from the conclusion of the visitation period that parent can be charged with a crime. If the parent stays within the state, it is a misdemeanor punishable by a $25 fine or 30 days of imprisonment. If the parent has crossed state lines with the child then it is considered a felony offense punishable by a fine $250 to $1,000 and/or imprisonment of 30 days to one year.

Guidelines for Taking Children Out-of-State

Mr. Brickman also laid out how a parenting plan affects the rights of and benefits parents regarding permission to take children out of their residing state.

He went on to say, "So say for example you live in Miami and you want to take a trip to Orlando, you won't be asking the other party for permission as long as the trip takes place on your time sharing. What you will be doing is simply giving notification. So you'll need to decide how much notice you would like the other party to give to you and how much notice you would like to give to the other party."

He also stated, "Both parties are free to travel out of the state with their children when it's their time sharing and again you'll just need to provide a detailed itinerary of locations and telephone numbers where the child and the other parent can be reached."

Out-of-Country Travel

A very important issue and circumstance surrounding thousands of abductions is leaving the country with a child. Mr. Brickman was very clear on how a parental plan's guidelines govern this situation by saying, "For out of the country travel, no parent can go and unilaterally just obtain a passport. Both parents will have to sign off on the passport as well as provide a notarized letter of authorization in order for the other parent to take the child out of the country. With that you may want a little bit extra time alloted, just in case you think that it may not be in the child's best interest or detrimental so you can get in front of a judge."

If you are a parent currently without a parenting plan and dealing with a kidnapping or abduction matter, you are not alone. There are also federal laws that assist parents with these matters. The Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act, or PKPA, was enacted for parents who live in different states to settle custody disputes where state laws might differ. The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, or UCCJA, aids parents if a child has been abducted so that the state from which the child as been abducted holds jurisdiction. So if the child was taken from the state of Florida, the 48-hour law is used as a basis from when the abduction begins, regardless where the other parent resides.

About Matthew Brickman:

Matthew Brickman has mediated hundreds of small claims, civil, and family cases involving disputes between couples with children, building contractors, small business mergers, bedding stores, auto accidents through State Farm Insurance, landscaping companies, neighbor disputes construction companies and even home owners associations. His experience also extends into the landlord/tenant segment, insurance companies, nursing homes, municipalities and even fire departments.

Visit his website for more information on Family Mediation in Florida and check his mediation calendar for availability to schedule your next mediation session.

iChatMediation - Family Mediation Services 1200 Town Center Dr #424  Jupiter, FL 33458 (877) 822-1479