International Child Abduction: What Can You Do if Your Child Does Not Return from Abroad?

15 Oct 2026

A parent takes the children abroad for a holiday but subsequently decides not to return. Or both parents agree that the children may temporarily stay with one of them abroad, after which that parent refuses to allow them to return to Belgium. Situations like these can amount to international child abduction more readily than one might initially think. In cases of international child abduction, acting quickly is important. The Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction therefore provides for a specific procedure through which the return of a child to the country of his or her habitual residence may be sought. But when does a situation legally qualify as international child abduction? Must a child always be returned? What if the child has already been living abroad for some time? And when can a lawyer assist you? We explain this by way of an example.

An example: the children do not return after staying abroad

A mother lives in Belgium with her two children. The children are registered in Belgium, attend school here and have always had their everyday lives here.

The father lives abroad.

During the summer, the children travel abroad with their father for a holiday of several weeks and to visit his family. Initially, the stay appears to be temporary and intended to last one month. However, when the children are due to return, the father refuses to bring them back.

The summer comes to an end and the father enrols the children in a local school. They speak the language through their father and his family. The father claims that they now wish to remain there.

What can the mother do?

In such a situation, the first question is whether there has been a wrongful removal or wrongful retention within the meaning of the Hague Child Abduction Convention.

What is the Hague Child Abduction Convention?

The Hague Child Abduction Convention is an international treaty intended to protect children against the consequences of being wrongfully removed to or retained in another country.

The underlying principle is straightforward: one parent should not be able to unilaterally move the centre of a child's life to another country where doing so is contrary to the other parent's rights of custody.

Where an international child abduction has taken place, the Convention allows an application to be made for the return of the child to the country of his or her habitual residence.

This distinction is important. A court determining a return application does not, in principle, make a final decision as to which parent the child should live with. The purpose of the return proceedings is primarily to restore the situation that was altered by the wrongful removal or retention. Questions concerning parental responsibility or the child's final living arrangements are therefore not determined in those proceedings.

When is there an international child abduction?

Not every move or stay abroad amounts to international child abduction.

For the Hague Child Abduction Convention to apply, it will generally be necessary to consider:

• where the child was habitually resident immediately before the removal or retention;
• whether the removal or failure to return the child breached existing rights of custody;
• whether those rights of custody were actually being exercised at the time, or would have been exercised but for the removal or retention;
• and whether the child is under the age of 16.

Rights of custody include, among other things, the right to participate in decisions concerning the child's place of residence.

International child abduction therefore does not necessarily mean that a parent has secretly taken a child abroad. A situation in which both parents initially agreed to a temporary stay abroad, but one parent subsequently refuses to return the child, may also amount to a wrongful retention.

What is a child's “habitual residence”?

Habitual residence is a key concept in international child abduction cases.

It is not determined solely by the child's official registered address. The specific circumstances of the case are taken into account, including where the child's day-to-day life was centred before the removal or retention.

Relevant factors may include, for example:

• where the child lived;
• where the child attended school or childcare;
• where the child received medical care;
• where the child's social and family life was based;
• and how settled or lasting the child's residence in a particular country was.

In our example, the children's registration, schooling and everyday life in Belgium may therefore be important factors in establishing that Belgium was their habitual residence before their departure.

What if the other parent says that consent was given?

This is a particularly important issue.

A court may take into account whether the left-behind parent agreed in advance to the removal or subsequently accepted the new situation.

However, consent to a holiday or temporary stay is not the same as consent to the child living abroad permanently.

The actual communications between the parents may therefore be highly significant. WhatsApp messages, emails, text messages and other communications may, for example, help establish what had originally been agreed, whether the left-behind parent subsequently requested the child's return, or whether that parent objected to the children's relocation.

It is therefore advisable to preserve such communications carefully and to have them reviewed from a legal perspective at an early stage.

Must the court always order the child's return?

Where it is established that a child has been wrongfully removed or retained, the starting point under the Hague Child Abduction Convention is the prompt return of the child to the country of his or her habitual residence.

Again, this does not mean that the court is making a final decision that the child must live with the other parent.

The purpose is to prevent one parent from creating a new factual situation by unilaterally moving the child abroad and then having the dispute concerning parental responsibility determined in the new country. Proceedings under the Hague Child Abduction Convention are therefore expressly intended to be dealt with swiftly.

Can the court refuse to return the child?

Yes. The Convention provides for a limited number of exceptions. It may, for example, be argued that:

• the other parent was not actually exercising his or her rights of custody;
• the other parent had consented to the removal or had subsequently acquiesced in the situation;
• there is a grave risk that returning the child would expose him or her to physical or psychological harm or otherwise place the child in an intolerable situation;
• the child objects to being returned and has attained an age and degree of maturity at which it is appropriate to take his or her views into account;
• or, in certain circumstances, that more than one year has passed and the child is now settled in his or her new environment.

These exceptions make international child abduction cases highly fact-specific. The circumstances of each individual family must therefore always be assessed separately.

What happens if more than one year has already passed?

The one-year period is important, but it is sometimes misunderstood.

A return application is not automatically out of time after one year. Even if more than one year has passed, a court may still order the child's return.

The difference is that, where return proceedings are only commenced after more than one year has elapsed, the parent opposing the return may additionally seek to establish that the child has become settled in his or her new environment. Schooling, friendships, knowledge of the local language, the child's home environment and the extent to which the child has integrated into life in the new country may all become relevant.

This is precisely why unnecessary delay should be avoided where international child abduction may have occurred.

What if the child says that he or she does not want to return?

The child's views may also be relevant in certain circumstances.

The Convention does not set a fixed minimum age. The court assesses whether the child has reached an age and degree of maturity at which it is appropriate to take his or her views into account.

This does not, however, mean that the child can simply decide whether or not to return. The court must consider the specific circumstances. In high-conflict situations, there may also be questions as to the circumstances in which the child's stated views were formed.

Where should a return application be made?

In an international child abduction case, a parent may, among other options, contact the Belgian Central Authority for International Child Abduction.

Where a child has been removed from Belgium to another country or is being retained there, the Central Authority may be asked to initiate the return process. It will cooperate with the competent authorities in the country where the child is located.

The Hague Child Abduction Convention also allows, in certain circumstances, proceedings to be brought directly before the competent foreign court. The most appropriate approach must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Which documents will you need?

Anyone preparing a return application should gather as much relevant information as possible, as quickly as possible. This may include:

• the child's birth certificate;
• evidence of the child's habitual residence in Belgium;
• a household composition certificate;
• school or childcare certificates;
• records relating to medical follow-up;
• any court orders concerning parental responsibility, residence or contact;
• any agreements between the parents;
• identity and travel documents;
• photographs of the child and the other parent;
• information concerning the child's presumed whereabouts;
• any police report that may have been filed;
• and, importantly, relevant communications between the parents concerning the departure and the requested return.

A well-prepared file can be important in establishing both the child's habitual residence and the circumstances of the departure, as well as whether or not consent had been given.

Do I need a lawyer in an international child abduction case?

It is entirely possible to contact the Belgian Central Authority directly. Nevertheless, legal assistance can be particularly valuable.

International child abduction cases sit at the intersection of family law, private international law and international procedural law. In addition, it is often necessary to coordinate matters in two countries at the same time.

A lawyer can, among other things:

• assess whether the Hague Child Abduction Convention applies;
• examine where the child was habitually resident;
• assess whether there has been a wrongful removal or retention;
• advise on possible defences such as consent, acquiescence or the expiry of the one-year period;
• assist in preparing the return application;
• help gather and organise the supporting evidence;
• liaise with the Belgian Central Authority;
• identify and instruct a specialist lawyer abroad;
• assist in coordinating and following up the foreign proceedings from Belgium;
• and, where appropriate, commence substantive proceedings in Belgium.

In international child abduction cases, much may also depend on communications that have already taken place between the parents. Obtaining legal advice at an early stage can help avoid further communications unintentionally creating the wrong impression, for example that a parent has consented to the child's permanent residence abroad.

What if a child is brought to Belgium from another country?

The Hague Child Abduction Convention naturally operates in both directions.

FAIRWAY can assist not only where a child has been taken from Belgium to another country or is being retained abroad. Legal assistance is equally important where a child has been brought to Belgium from abroad and a parent living in another country seeks the child's return.

In such cases, it will be necessary to examine, among other things:

• whether there has in fact been a wrongful removal or retention;
• where the child was habitually resident before the move;
• what rights of custody existed;
• and whether any of the exceptions to the obligation to return the child may apply.

International child abduction: early legal advice can be important

International child abduction is not only legally complex. For parents, it is often also an extremely emotional and urgent situation. At the same time, it is important not to act solely on the basis of emotion.

Where the child previously lived, the arrangements made between the parents, the communications before and after the departure, the time that has since elapsed and the child's current circumstances may all play an important role.

FAIRWAY – Partners in Law and Mediation has experience in personal and family law and can assist you where your child has been taken from Belgium to another country or has not been returned, as well as where return proceedings are brought against you in Belgium.

We can assist you with the legal assessment of the situation, preparation of a return application, communications with the Central Authority and coordination with foreign lawyers where proceedings abroad are required.

Do you believe that your child may have been internationally abducted, or are you yourself facing an application for the return of a child? Contact us as soon as possible. Together, we will assess which rules apply and which steps are appropriate in your specific circumstances.