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Bill helps judges to react when parents threaten to abduct kids
The Associated Press
Issue date: 3/20/07 Section: News
Every time Mike Beadle's four children visit their mother, he gets a sinking feeling in his stomach.
During his divorce, Beadle said, his wife said and did things, such as coming by his house unexpectedly, to lead him to believe she might take off with their children. Four years later, he still worries when the children, who live with him in Kansas City, Kan., spend every other weekend with their mother.
"It's very frightening and emotional. I never know when she picks up the kids whether that will be the last time I will see them," the 37-year-old father said. "It's made me a nervous wreck."
Chris Yotz, the attorney for Beadle's former wife, insists Beadle has nothing to worry about. "This guy is the most sleazy lying sack of trash that I ever heard," Yotz said.
For courts dealing with divorces and custody battles, it can be tough to tell when such concerns are legitimate.
That's why Ronald W. Nelson, a domestic relations lawyer in Overland Park, is championing a bill in the Legislature to provide guidelines for courts in such situations so they can better identify when such a threat is credible and spell out what judges can do. The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws crafted the bill last year with the hope that all states would eventually enact it.
"It would lead to more uniform decisions by states when these matters arise," said John Sebert, executive director of the conference. "This is trying to establish an appropriate way to deal quickly with a risk that a child will be abducted and taken out of a jurisdiction."
Aside from Kansas, legislatures in Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas and Utah are considering the bill, and it has been enacted in Nebraska and South Dakota.
Historically, Kansas law has held that, absent a custody order, parents can't be charged with kidnapping their own child because both parents have equal custody rights and can take the child wherever they want.
During his divorce, Beadle said, his wife said and did things, such as coming by his house unexpectedly, to lead him to believe she might take off with their children. Four years later, he still worries when the children, who live with him in Kansas City, Kan., spend every other weekend with their mother.
"It's very frightening and emotional. I never know when she picks up the kids whether that will be the last time I will see them," the 37-year-old father said. "It's made me a nervous wreck."
Chris Yotz, the attorney for Beadle's former wife, insists Beadle has nothing to worry about. "This guy is the most sleazy lying sack of trash that I ever heard," Yotz said.
For courts dealing with divorces and custody battles, it can be tough to tell when such concerns are legitimate.
That's why Ronald W. Nelson, a domestic relations lawyer in Overland Park, is championing a bill in the Legislature to provide guidelines for courts in such situations so they can better identify when such a threat is credible and spell out what judges can do. The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws crafted the bill last year with the hope that all states would eventually enact it.
"It would lead to more uniform decisions by states when these matters arise," said John Sebert, executive director of the conference. "This is trying to establish an appropriate way to deal quickly with a risk that a child will be abducted and taken out of a jurisdiction."
Aside from Kansas, legislatures in Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas and Utah are considering the bill, and it has been enacted in Nebraska and South Dakota.
Historically, Kansas law has held that, absent a custody order, parents can't be charged with kidnapping their own child because both parents have equal custody rights and can take the child wherever they want.
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