International abandonment and debt

[msy]

My friend in MD, United States has a wife who left him and took their children ages 7 and 10 to live in Brazil without consent. She left him paying the full mortgage--they had bought the house together--and all of their joint accounts. She ignores all of her financial responsibilities in the US. My friend filed for divorce, but because she is in Brazil it has been nearly 1 year since he started the process and she only recently received the summons according to courier delivery. She is ignoring this. My friend has already paid $15,000 in attorney fees along with the mortgage and bills and cannot afford to maintain this. He is thinking of filing bankruptcy as a result. Is there any way his wife could be held responsible to pay her share of the debt? Would filing bankruptcy be a viable option since most of the debt is from joint accounts? He was told by his attorney that the Hague Convention probably would not help and he doesn't want to risk losing all contact with his children (he can still call them occasionally) by trying. Plus he cannot afford more legal battles. Advice, please!

[AFFA]

I wish to inform you that your friend can file charges for child abduction. In this regard the children were taken without consent so child abduction can be alleged and children can be brought back to USA. Further your friend can represent himself in court and reduce attorneys cost. He may read court rules and conduct divorce proceedings.

AFF

[Friend In Court]

Originally Posted by msy My friend in MD, United States has a wife who left him and took their children ages 7 and 10 to live in Brazil without consent. She left him paying the full mortgage--they had bought the house together--and all of their joint accounts. She ignores all of her financial responsibilities in the US. My friend filed for divorce, but because she is in Brazil it has been nearly 1 year since he started the process and she only recently received the summons according to courier delivery. She is ignoring this. My friend has already paid $15,000 in attorney fees along with the mortgage and bills and cannot afford to maintain this. He is thinking of filing bankruptcy as a result. Is there any way his wife could be held responsible to pay her share of the debt? Would filing bankruptcy be a viable option since most of the debt is from joint accounts? He was told by his attorney that the Hague Convention probably would not help and he doesn't want to risk losing all contact with his children (he can still call them occasionally) by trying. Plus he cannot afford more legal battles. Advice, please!

What an unfortunate set of circumstances your friend is in. Yes, of course he can file bankruptcy. The court cannot make any personal orders affecting the wife, though, only dissolve the marriage. If he files bankruptcy for himself as an individual, the debts will rest on the wife -- if and when they find her.

What the wife has done constitutes parental kidnapping, plain and simple. A man recently won an 8-year battle for his son his wife took to Brazil, she died in childbirth and the relatives claimed the child as their own. He went through hell, court battles for 8 years in Brazil and a tremendous sum of money before the courts finally returned his son to him.

As long as he can keep communication with his son and maybe visit when he can scrape up the funds, he is farther ahead for at least he has some contact with him.