Recent Hague Convention District Court Cases - Soulier v. Matsumoto, 2022 WL 2666946, Not For Publication, (D. New Jersey, 2022)

 [Belgium] [Habitual Residence] [Wrongful retention] [Petition granted]

In Soulier v. Matsumoto, 2022 WL 2666946, Not For Publication, (D. New Jersey, 2022) the  principal contested issues were  (1) whether Respondent had “wrongfully retained” A.L.S. and A.H.S. in New Jersey as of July 10, 2019 without Petitioner’s consent; (2) if she had, whether the United States or Belgium was the children’s “habitual residence” immediately prior to the date of wrongful retention; and (3) if the habitual residence was Belgium, whether Respondent had any affirmative defenses. The Court found that Respondent wrongfully retained the children in New Jersey in July 2019. Respondent asserts four affirmative defenses: intolerable situation, consent or acquiescence, the well-settled exception, and the mature child exception, but did not prove any of them. The Petition for return was granted.