Case Study - Family Law - Kidnapping!

Situation:

Peter rang Moores Legal very upset, urgently wanting an appointment. Anne, his wife of eight years had disappeared two nights before with their six year old son Mark. The parties were in their early thirties.

Over the previous six months, Anne had been going out at night a lot, telling Peter on occasions that she was going to nightclubs. She seemed to be buying more and more skimpy dresses and going out heavily made up. Peter was doing the majority of the domestic chores around the house and the majority of caring for Mark including picking him up from school most days. Peter was finding it more difficult to communicate with Anne and he was getting increasingly alarmed about Anne's behaviour preceding her sudden disappearance.

Response:

Moores Legal had Peter contact all family and friends whom he knew and no one could or would tell him where Anne had gone. Text messages were sent and got no response.

Urgent court proceedings were issued a few days later and orders obtained directing the Federal Police to locate Anne and Mark and to return Mark to Peter pending a further court hearing. This gave not only the Federal Police but the State Police forces the power to take forcible action when Anne was found.

Outcome:

Six days later Moores Legal was contacted by the Federal Police to say that they had found Anne and Mark who were in a hospital in Alice Springs. It seems that they were en route to Darwin when they had a minor car accident. They were not seriously injured.

The Federal Police arranged for Mark to be immediately returned to Peter. The matter went back into the Family Court in the next week where directions were given. Mark remained with Peter in the short term and when Anne got back to Melbourne, she applied for Mark's full time care.

The final hearing took place twelve months later. The result was that Peter remained the principal carer for Mark with Anne having regular time with Mark.