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How quickly must a parent whose child has been abducted act under the Hague Convention?

While technically speaking the Hague Convention gives a 'left-behind' parent up to 12 months to act from the time of abduction until starting legal proceedings, the reality is that he/she is strongly advised to act almost immediately, to increase the chances of securing the child's 'prompt' return. The sooner a 'left-behind'  parent acts the greater the chance of securing a return, and vice versa. A 'left-behind' parent who acts within days or a few weeks of an abduction will increase the chances of his/her abducted child being returned quickly.

In many 'Hague' countries, courts have held that a child can establish habitual residence in the new country very quickly, for example, after a few months, and in some cases, even sooner. If it is proved that a child has become habitually resident in the new country, this means that a request for a return order would be rejected on the grounds of  failure to prove 'habitual residence' i.e. that the child was no longer habitually resident in the 'old country' even if he had been wrongly removed.