Locating children

Published Monday, 19 February 2001 by

Rather than allow her five-year-old daughter to spend holidays with her father, Margaret moved interstate, sending a letter to her estranged husband's mother from Melbourne. In the letter, Margaret told her mother-in-law she had a job with a major slimming chain and left a post office box address so the woman could remain in contact with her grandchild. When the father learned of his ex-wife's supposed whereabouts, he went to court to force Australia Post to release the residential address for the person who had the post office box. He then hired a private eye to keep a watch on the house but it quickly became obvious the people living at that address were in no way involved with his ex-wife or the disappearance of his daughter. Believing his wife was receiving welfare payments, the man went back to court and the judge ordered the Social Security Department to release information related to the woman's whereabouts. The information revealed the woman was not living in Melbourne and never had been. In fact, she had been living in northern Queensland the whole time and had taken elaborate steps to try and mislead the father. In many breakdowns, the partners separate and made ad hoc arrangements for the children to be shared between the two but never get an official residence order through the courts. In such cases it makes the process more difficult and time-consuming which can be vital where children have been deliberately snatched from one parent. Where a proper residence arrangement has already been brokered there are several options open to the courts to secure the return of the child. A judge may make an order for the parent to return the child and if that fails the court can make a recovery order giving police the authority to physically take the child. If a residence or contact order does not exist, a parent has to ask the court for such an order provided they can prove it is in the best interest of the children. Only then can the parent request for the court to issue a recovery order for the return of the children. A judge can allow the recovery order to "lay in the court" for a period of time to allow the other parent to voluntarily return the children without the intervention of police. If you need to find where a child has been hidden it is best to contact a specialist family lawyer.