YOU NEED A PLAN & SUPPORT.
Cut through the Tangled Web of Legal Issues in your International Family Law case.
MKFL understands the complicated intersection of laws for international families and can help you and your lawyer understand it too, so that any plan you create is tailor-made and specific to your goals.
Melissa Kucinski, of MKFL, is the Author of Family Law Across Borders
A reputable blog monitoring and providing summaries on various important international family law cases.
REVIEWS OF MKFL
International Family Law
Services
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Expert Opinions
provide written or oral opinions on jurisdiction, international treaties, travel with children, and child abduction prevention
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Strategic Consulting
consult for family lawyers & their clients on cross-border legal issues, including jurisdiction, international treaties, choice of law, and the laws between countries
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Dispute Resolution
offer neutral services as a mediator, in the collaborative process, in negotiation, and through an international arbitration panel
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Case Coordination
MKFL manages your international family law case, coordinating the specialists you need. Family lawyers, accountants, experts, immigration lawyers, estate planning lawyers - MKFL builds and manages the team.
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Judicial Assistance
provide assistance in seeking authenticated foreign documents for use in litigation, service of process overseas, and securing discovery for litigation overseas
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Trial & Appellate Support
strategy meetings, research, drafting, mooting for oral arguments, and overall case management of international issues, including liaising with MKFL’s network
MKFL’s Expertise
MKFL is a boutique law firm focusing on private international law in complex family law cases.
Private International Law is a niche area of legal practice that focuses on laws that impact private relationships across international borders.
MKFL focuses its work on the laws that impact relationships between family members who have connections to multiple countries.
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understanding the legal implications of moving your child across international borders to change their residence or for limited travel
creating a strategy if you plan on relocating to another country with your child
working with highly mobile families, like military, foreign service, or international organization employees pre- and post-relocation to understand the legal issues of moving with their children
crafting a tailored and practical cross-border parenting plan and thinking through issues common among expat families and children
helping craft language for parenting plans that maximize legal options in the future for mobile families
working with local family lawyers to understand the legal complexities when more than one country is involved in a child custody dispute between parents
understanding the rules that determine where (what country and what court) you can seek a child custody order
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understanding the legal implications of relocating your child, and the steps you may need to take prior to doing so
assessing whether your situation falls under an international treaty called the Hague Child Abduction Convention, and, if so, what that means for your child
planning for your family if you fear the other parent may unilaterally relocate your child to another country
understanding whether a foreign custody order may be enforceable in the United States and the rules for when it may not be
crafting a practical and legally sound agreement to address potential future movement of your child
understanding the risks of your child traveling to another country, whether for a long-term residency or a short-term trip
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understanding where you may be able to seek financial support from the other parent for your child
strategizing your options for obtaining a fair amount and duration of child support
understanding where you must take an existing child support order to enforce it and collect the money owed
exploring government resources for establishing child support and collecting it
understanding options for modifying the amount or duration of child support from a foreign child support order
exploring the availability of international treaties, bilateral agreements, and other legal arrangements between the United States and other countries to help you secure financial support for your child
working with local family lawyers to establish, modify, or enforce child support orders
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understanding the legal implications of moving your family across international borders for a short-term or long-term relocation or a vacation
creating a strategy if you plan on relocating to another country with your family
working with highly mobile families, like military, foreign service, or international organization employees pre- and post-relocation to understand the legal issues of moving to another country and whether that move may implicate their legal rights to divorce or move with their child
crafting a tailored and practical cross-border plan and thinking through issues common among expat families and children
helping craft language for plans and agreements that maximize legal options in the future for mobile families
working with local family lawyers to understand the legal complexities when more than one country is involved in a family law dispute
understanding the rules that determine where (what country and what court) you can resolve issues related to your marriage, divorce, property, and children
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understanding whether you or your spouse may be immune from a family law lawsuit in a particular jurisdiction
knowing where to seek information on you or your spouse’s level of immunity from a family law lawsuit in a particular jurisdiction
strategizing where you can file a lawsuit when you or your spouse may have immunity from a family law lawsuit
working with local family lawyers to explore legal options for you in divorce, custody, or financial family lawsuits
understanding the impact of immunity on service of process of a family lawsuit
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understanding the legal requirements to obtain a U.S. passport for a minor child
crafting language for an agreement or court order that will provide for less legal ambiguity when applying for a U.S. passport for a minor child
understanding government resources for knowing when a U.S. passport application has been made on your child’s behalf
understanding the interplay between your child’s U.S. passport and potential international parental child abduction concerns
working with local lawyers in other countries to prepare legal opinions to educate foreign courts on U.S. passport requirements for children
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understanding whether your marriage in a foreign country will be legally recognized in the United States
determining where you can seek a dissolution of your marriage
understanding when U.S. courts will recognize a divorce concluded in another country
gathering information and evidence to help establish the authority to divorce and resolve other issues related to your divorce, such as dividing property or seeking spousal support
strategizing with local family lawyers when divorce lawsuits have been filed in more than one country
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understanding options for securing access to information about overseas assets
exploring potential treaties that may exist to help discover overseas assets
understanding issues that need to be considered prior to marrying, and strategizing on what options you may have to protect assets if you were to divorce
working with estate planning and tax lawyers to provide guidance on an international asset protection plan
interpreting agreements signed before or after marriage that relate to your assets, including civil law marriage contracts and religious marriage contracts
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understanding whether the resolution of your separation, divorce, property division, support or custody arrangement in another country may have legal effect in the United States
guidance during family law matters in other countries to increase the likelihood that the outcome in the other country will be recognized in the United States
exploring whether a child custody order from another country will be recognized and enforced in the United States
exploring whether a child support order from another country will be recognized and enforced in the United States
discussing the differences between agreements and court orders when resolving your family law matters
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preparation of paperwork using the Hague Service Convention to serve legal documents in another country that is a treaty partner with the United States
guidance to local family lawyers on service of process strategies
understanding the potential impact of diplomatic immunity on service of process
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work with local family lawyer to prepare paperwork to seek discovery in another country using the Hague Evidence Convention when the United States is a treaty partner with the other country
coordinate with local family lawyers to strategize options for seeking discovery in support of a family law suit
guidance to foreign lawyers who seek discovery of information in the United States in support of their family law suit
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secure apostilles of public documents when the Hague Apostille Convention is applicable
navigate consulates and government offices to seek the authentication of foreign public documents for use in litigation in the United States
Have you ever said,
“If I had only known...”
If your family has connections to another country, then your family is going to have a lot of legal complications if your relationship dissolves, or you want to return home (with your child).
Having a strong plan with a tailor-made strategy will save you time, energy, and money, and move you faster towards peace of mind.
MKFL works exclusively with international families –any family that has a connection to both the United States and another country– providing support, strategy, and advice to law firms on complex international parental child abduction cases all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
MELISSA is a respected colleague who is often sought after by all sides of legal cases and has been at the forefront of educating others in the field of international family law:
check through her participation in the U.S. Department of State's Advisory Committee on Private International Law,
check as a delegate and former consultant to the Hague Conference on Private International Law, and
check and while chairing international family law committees in the New York State Bar, American Bar Association, and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
MKFL’s expertise is in international family law, and providing practical options, pointed advice, and understandable explanations.
These situations are complicated. The answers are not easy to understand and are not often intuitive. These cases can be expensive and require a lot of resources.
MKFL can use its vast resources and wide network to help you strategize faster, more efficiently, and more accurately than many lawyers.
How it works
Ready to Plan Your Case Strategy?
Let MKFL help you plan by using its access to resources and a vast network.
REVIEWS OF MKFL
What is International Family Law?
TO USE AN ANALOGY, AN "INTERNATIONAL FAMILY LAWYER" IS LIKE AN ARCHITECT.
They have the background, knowledge, experience, and network to help analyze your multi-jurisdictional life and construct an overarching structure for your situation.
Their primary role is to design a process and help you piece together the team to actually build the outcome you wish to achieve.
An international family lawyer may not be able to do everything themselves, but they have the knowledge of the laws, and how the laws interplay between the countries, can spot the key issues, and can create a plan that works best for you. They can then help oversee the process.
Typically, your international family lawyer would help manage the different professionals to ensure they are not duplicating work.
They can help pinpoint processes that might work well for your family, such as mediation or arbitration, and they can help a local lawyer manage the litigation of your case if it must be brought in a court, including helping to find and prepare expert witnesses, research discrete legal issues, and assess the steps you need to take to ensure any outcome is respected in all the countries where your family has connections.
They will also know and understand other international legal issues that are crucial to your case but are not commonly addressed by family lawyers, like how to secure evidence overseas, how to authenticate a document in another country for use in court, and how to make sure the other person is properly served so that any court case can move forward.
How is this different
from a family lawyer?
Family lawyers are trained and licensed to give legal advice and file lawsuits in very specific locations. They are fantastic at advising on the law and process in the location where they are licensed and they can give you a fairly accurate picture of the outcome for your family if you were to fight it out in that location.
However, they may not understand the bigger picture, including whether resolving your dispute in that location is practical, best for you, or even possible.
Family lawyers do not usually provide advice on the interplay between their country and the other countries that are implicated in your dispute.