Result: At the court hearing Melanie Bean demonstrated that no fraud was used by our client, the Father, in procuring the child custody agreement and that the agreement was in the best interest of the child, based upon the circumstances at the time of the custody agreement which vested primary parenting responsibility to the Father. The custody agreement was found to be legally binding on the Mother. The Court further found Order of Protection should be dismissed.
Details: Father and Mother, who were unmarried and living in two separate countries, entered into a settlement agreement sharing custody of their child. Mother sought to set aside the agreement under a special rule of procedure in an effort to keep the keep Father from having agreed parenting time with his child claiming the agreement was procured by fraud. Mother strategically also sought an Exparte Order of Protection to prevent Father from even contacting the child pending the hearing despite Father being thousands of miles away without the ability to even place Mother in fear of physical harm.