Articles and publications

It is a legal opinion of Karina Duvall with answer for common question on how to immigrate to the United States with a minor child without the father’s consent

The mother exercises full rights to the Child. The Mother makes key decisions about the daughter and provides her housing and care. Actually, the Mother has sole custody over Child. She is acting precisely in the best interest of both children; she is compelled to relocate due to her marriage with American citizen and acts in behalf of both children, who cannot be separated. Read More »

Karina Duvall, Russian matrimonial attorney, is resolving visitation issues for her U.S. client in Appellate Division of Moscow City Court

However, the court did not take into account the Plaintiff’s opinion on the choice of an expert institution and ordered the examination to the ANO Institute of Forensic Psychological Expertise, where none of the experts speaks English, and the English interpreter was not involved in the manner prescribed by law. That is, at the beginning of expertise a certain woman was present: without a name, surname, and diploma confirming knowledge of the English. This woman gave up and left the examination before it ended. Her identity has never been established. Read More »

CASE OF VLADIMIR USHAKOV v. RUSSIA

This case is a subject of my special pride. As an attorney for the mother, I represented the interests of I.K. and her daughter V. in the appeal proceedings. Based of my appeal, the order of the first instance court was cancelled, and the St. Petersburg City Court as Appellate Division made a new order. As result, little girl stayed with her mother in Russia, and no one and nothing can change that. Read More »

Kidnapping? Child abduction?

Kidnapping? Child abduction? Or maybe is it exercising of parental rights? Today I will start a series of stories about legitimate and illegitimate moving children abroad. Every parent supposed to know possible consequences and potential risks. Every woman should know it when she decide to marry American and have child with foreigners.

Story 1. Once upon a time, a large family moved to the USA with the refugee status. These were elderly parents, their adult daughter, and her husband. Two kids were born in the United States. Despite the fact that this was not an international family and they did not have most of the conflicts arising in international marriages, their marriage was cracked. The wife asked her husband’s consent for a temporary trip to Russia, and he, not suspecting anything wrong, gave his consent. And at the next step, he received a subpoena to appear in a Russian court, because his wife filed divorce and custody case against him. Despite all his efforts, the Russian supported the Wife-Plaintiff and granted divorce and full custody to her.

From other hand, the Husband filed divorce, custody and equitable distribution case in the United States. The US court adopted Russian divorce order, but doesn’t agree with all other parts of Russian divorce. So, the court made its own decision and ordered children to be returned to the United States. The US court granted to the father sole custody and gave all marital properties to him. The US court also made child support order against the mother. The mother, of course, did not obey this order, and did not return to the USA, and then the father contacted me and asked me to open visitation case in Russia.

At the same time in the USA, the husband initiated a case against the parents-in-law, who were US citizens. Because their daughter committed the kidnapping, her parents, who help her at least financially, were accomplices in the crime.

I’m not sure that it’s possible to punish such people within the criminal law, but it is possible to punish them financially for sure. They lost all their real estate properties, and also paid huge penalties. At this time, the father regularly met with children in Russia (the Russian court cannot denied father’s request for visitations as long as he has parental rights), visiting them six times a year. And now the eldest daughter, who is 18 years old, has come to him in the USA, and two years later the youngest son will almost certainly do the same, leaving his elderly mother alone in Russia.

Why people do not estimate their risks is a rhetorical question. I think that the mother did not expect such a result, having thrown all her powers into the struggle and abandoning everything else: she lost her opportunity to ever visit the United States and any other country friendly to the United States. Read More »

About visitations and relocation international case

American order is irrelevant for Russian court because it shows your intentions to take children to New York, which never can be approved by Russian Court. If you want to file case in Russia, you need to provide the power of attorney to your representative. Read More »