Mohsen v. Mohsen

5 So. 3d 218, 2008 La.App. 1 Cir. 1703, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1730, 2008 WL 5352015
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 23, 2008
Docket2008 CU 1703
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 5 So. 3d 218 (Mohsen v. Mohsen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mohsen v. Mohsen, 5 So. 3d 218, 2008 La.App. 1 Cir. 1703, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1730, 2008 WL 5352015 (La. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

PARRO, J.

|2The mover in a motion to establish international visitation appeals a judgment that denied her motion and ordered the surrender of her minor child’s passport. For the following reasons, the judgment is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with instructions.

Factual Background and Procedural History

Murad K. Mohsen (Murad) and Damaris Fernandez Mohsen (Damaris) were married on October 2, 2002, in California. Of the marriage, one child, Miranda (child), was born on September 26, 2004. Following their separation in March 2007, Murad filed a petition for divorce in a Louisiana district court. At that time, Murad was residing in Louisiana, and Damaris was residing in Florida. After the trial court overruled an exception raising the objection of lack of subject matter jurisdiction that had been filed by Damaris, the parties entered into an interim stipulated judgment signed by the court on November 14, 2007, which provided for the sharing of physical custody of their minor child. In that interim judgment, it was stated in pertinent part:

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the parties agree that neither the parties nor their agents shall take the minor child Miranda Murad Mohsen outside of the United States without further order by the Court.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that this interim stipulated judgment establishing child custody shall maintain effect until such time as a trial on the merits may be held to detennine a custody arrangement in the best interests of the child, taking into consideration all relevant factors bearing on each party’s parental qualifications.

On December 31, 2007, the parties entered into a stipulated judgment providing for joint custody of the child with Damaris being designated as the domicilary parent, the establishment of a physical custody schedule, and child support. The parties further agreed that jui’isdiction over the matter and Murad’s petition for divorce would remain in Louisiana.

Pursuant to the terms of the inteiim judgment, Damaris filed a motion on February 25, 2008, to establish international visitation. In her motion, Damaris |3expressed her desire to transport the child to Nicaragua for 12 days (from March 20 to March 31, 2008) for the purpose of visiting with the child’s maternal grandparents. She prayed for an order directing Murad to appear in court and show cause why she should not be allowed to transport their child to Nicaragua beginning March 20, 2008, and returning to the United States on March 31, 2008. The court issued a show cause order, setting a hearing of this matter on March 18, 2008.

At the healing, Murad appeared without counsel, Damaris did not appear as she was reportedly in Miami, Florida, and counsel appeared on Damaris’ behalf. In addition to denying Damaris’ motion, the trial court declared that Damaris was prohibited from transporting Miranda to Nicaragua until such time as Nicaragua became “an accepted signatory party to the Hague Convention on 25 October 1980 of the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction” and ordered Damaris to surrender the child’s passport to the court. *221 Damaris appealed, asserting that the trial court abused its discretion in:

failing to perform a balancing test of each of the Uniform International Child Abduction Prevention Act’s factors to determine the risk of abduction, foreclosing any possibility of cross-examination of Murad, and directing her to surrender the passport of their minor child and prohibiting the child from leaving the United States.

Discussion

Damaris contends that in ruling on her motion, the trial court should have considered all of the factors set forth in the Uniform International Child Abduction Prevention Act (Child Abduction Prevention Act), LSA-E.S. 13:1851 et seq., rather than focusing exclusively on Nicaragua’s nonparticipation in the Hague Convention.

An application to the court for an order, if not presented in some other pleading, shall be by motion which, unless made during trial or hearing or in open court, shall be in writing. LSA-C.C.P. art. 961. If the order applied for by written motion is one to which mover is clearly entitled without supporting proof, the court may grant the order ex parte and without hearing the adverse party. LSA-C.C.P. art. 963.

|4The order sought by Damaris in this case was not one to which she was clearly entitled and required supporting proof; accordingly, the motion had to be served on and tried contradictorily with Murad. See LSA-C.C.P. art. 963. Despite the need for supporting proof, Da-maris chose not to attend the hearing, and no evidence was offered by her counsel in support of her motion. Therefore, since Damaris failed to meet her burden of proof, we find no error in the trial court’s denial of her motion to establish international visitation. 1 Accordingly, we affirm that portion of the judgment.

Nonetheless, the judgment also ordered that the child’s passport be surrendered to the court, and this portion of the judgment will now be reviewed. Louisiana Revised Statute 13:1854 of the Child Abduction Prevention Act sets forth the types of actions in which abduction prevention measures may be ordered, as follows:

A. A court on its own motion may order abduction prevention measures in a child-custody proceeding if the court finds that the evidence establishes a credible risk of abduction of the child.
B. A party to a child-custody determination or another individual or entity having a right under the law of this state or any other state to seek a child-custody determination for the child may file a petition seeking abduction prevention measures to protect the child under this Part.
C. A prosecutor or public authority designated under R.S. 13:1837 may seek a warrant to take physical custody of a child under R.S. 13:1859 or other appropriate prevention measures.

Notably, Damaris’ motion to establish international visitation did not seek abduction prevention measures as set forth in LSA-R.S. 13:1854(B). Furthermore, Mu-rad did not respond to Damaris’ motion by filing a petition seeking abduction prevention measures. 2 Moreover, LSA-R.S. 13:1854(C) is clearly not applicable in this case. However, because Damaris’ motion involves an issue that is included within *222 the ambit of a child-custody proceeding, 3 the trial court had authority, on its own motion, to order abduction prevention measures, but only upon a finding that the evidence established a credible |firisk of abduction of the child. See LSA-R.S. 13:1854(A).

Pursuant to LSA-R.S. 13:1857(A), in determining whether there is a credible risk of abduction of a child, the court shall consider all of the following factors and any evidence that the petitioner or respondent:

(1) Has previously abducted or attempted to abduct the child.
(2) Has threatened to abduct the child.

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Bluebook (online)
5 So. 3d 218, 2008 La.App. 1 Cir. 1703, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1730, 2008 WL 5352015, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mohsen-v-mohsen-lactapp-2008.