Detailed information on the activities of the United States of America under the 1980 Hague Convention (Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction):
The Central Authority of the United States of America is the U.S. Department of State - Office of Children's Issues
The Office of Children's Issues is the United States Central Authority (USCA) and is the primary contact for cases of children abducted both to and from the United States. Additionally, this office has overall policy co-ordination responsibility for implementation of the Abduction Convention in the United States.
- Parental responsibilities / Custody rights
To whom rights of custody are attributed by operation of law is a matter of state law in the United States. In most states, there is a presumption of joint legal custody of children born to married parents.
That is, parents who have children with each other during the marriage share generally joint legal and physical custody by operation of law. States are not unanimous in the manner in which they attribute rights of custody by operation of law to parents who have children out of wedlock.
In some states, there is a joint custodial presumption for parents who are not married to each other but have a child together. In other states, there is a presumption that the mother has sole legal custody of a child born out of wedlock unless and until the biological father takes affirmative steps to establish himself as the legal father.
These affirmative steps could include initiating court action; initiating action with an administrative body; or other affirmative steps that may include the father's holding out the child as his own.
However, sometimes the affirmative steps that the father takes may establish him as the legal father and award him parental rights but not custodial rights. Each state enacts its own law.
We would highlight that no return application should be forwarded to a foreign central authority without the applicable point of law or other legal custody order that provides the left behind parent’s parental rights.