International Divorce - Who has Jurisdiction in this Case?

In cases of an international divorce such as this one, where the couple was married in Israel,
and where the children were born in Israel. Where the family lived in Israel always until they
moved to Florida on July 2006. The family then lived in Florida for about 8 months until the
children were abducted by the mother to Brazil on March 20, 2007. Additionaly, the mother,
who was born in Israel, also has Brazilian citizenship. But the family never lived in Brazil.

So where should the divorce be done? In Israel? In Florida? In Brazil? In Mexico? And which
divorce Court has jurisdiction to decide who has custody of the children? What does the law
say about this? Several divorce attorneys were asked these questions in Florida, Israel,
Brazil, and Mexico. And their answer was unanimous!

The divorce can be done in either Florida or Israel. But under these conditions, and with
this family history, only the Court in Florida has jurisdiction to decide about the legal
custody of the children. More specifically, the Court in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Why? Because of the increased number of International Parental Abductions worldwide because
of the ease of international travel between countries, most countries in the world, including
Brazil, Israel, Mexico, and the USA, have developed and introduced laws in their own countries
to prevent cases of International Abductions such as this one. Furthermore, several countries,
including Brazil, Israel, Mexico, and the USA, have signed an International Agreement known
as The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

If Brazil would have complied with this International Agreement, these 3 abducted children
would have been returned to Florida already by August 2007, and a lot of pain, trouble, and
severe emotional and psychological harm and trauma for the children would have been avoided.

In addition to the question of Jurisdiction, the Hague Convention refers to the issue of
"Habitual Residence" of the children. The Habitual Residence of the children refers to
the place where the children were used to living, with their parents, with their school,
with their friends and family, with the languange and culture they were used to.

In fact, if Smadar Hameiry would have returned with the children to Israel instead of
abducting the children to Brazil, a place where the children had never lived before,
she could have easily argued that Israel is much more the "Habitual Residence" of the
children than Florida. After all, the children were born in Israel and they lived in
Israel all their lives until the family moved to Florida. Furthermore, Smadar Hameiry
could have legally filed for divorce in Israel and asked for custody of the children.

Luckily, in this particular case, all the laws in all the countries involved in the
discussion, Israel, USA, Brazil, and Mexico, agree that a divorce could have only
been done in either Florida or Israel, but certainly not in Brazil or Mexico,
simply because the family never lived in Brazil or Mexico.

But what about the issue of custody? Which Court has jurisdiction to decide on the
question of custody for the children? Florida or Israel? In this particular case,
because the family lived in Florida more than 6 months, Florida has Jurisdiction
to decide on the issue of custody for the children. All the laws agree on this.

The question of jurisdiction was heavily debated during the Florida divorce case
by Howard Poznanski, who represented Smadar Hameiry during the Florida divorce.

Howard Poznanski responded to the divorce proceedings and to the existing Court Orders
with a very complex motion to dismiss the Florida divorce case. Also a sworn affidavit
signed by Smadar Hameiry, but obviously written by Howard Poznanski, was submitted.

After a very long and expensive litigation, it was found that the entire motion filed
by Howard Poznanski was completely false, irrelevant, and unrelated to this case. As
to the attached affidavit, it was proven to be filled with lies designed by Howard
Poznanski to stop, or at least delay, the divorce and custody proceedings, to avoid
a Hague process, and to permanently prevent the recovery of the children.

While Howard Poznanski lost the divorce trial, he was apparently successful in
preventing a police investigation into the abduction of the children, by using
the same false information he presented at the divorce trial.

After Smadar Hameiry became aware that her husband had filed for divorce and custody
of the children in Florida, she was advised by Howard Poznanski to fraudulently file
for divorce in Brazil. But Smadar Hameiry could not legally file for divorce in Brazil
because Brazil does not have the jurisdictional requirements to grant the divorce or
to decide on the custody of the children. The Brazilain divorce is one big fraud.

As a result, Smadar Hameiry has lost legal custody of the children, and the children
are now being retained illegally in Brazil. The Brazilain Federal Court handling the
Hague Convention case is fully aware of these facts but instead of returning the
children to Florida, they decided to delay the legal proceedings as much as possible,
and then tried to trick the left behind parent into dropping the Hague abduction case.

The Brazilian Federal Court has determined that the children were wrongfully removed from
Florida and were wrongfully taken into Brazil. That the Florida divorce was done legally
and in accordance to Florida law and international law, and that the Brazilian divorce
was done fraudulently and illegaly. That the left behind parent has legal custody of his children
and that the children are being wrongfully retained in Brazil by Smadar Hameiry.

Please help us pray for the safety and good health of these children !!!

Please help us save these young innocent and beautiful children !!!

Please help us bring these children back home !!!

Please email us at help@hatufim.org if you have any helpful information.

Thank you !!!

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