I am devastated. I divorced my wife in the Dominican Republic since that’s where we got married. I brought her to the US back in 2022. She was abusing the children, so I asked her to leave, but she left with the kids through violence and got temporary custody. We’ve been fighting for custody for a year. Turns out that when you get a divorce in the Dominican Republic, the mother automatically gets custody. My lawyer told me before that the Dominican Republic does not have jurisdiction here and it wouldn’t count. The divorce just went through today, and now he is telling me I basically lost custody of my children, and it was by my own doing. Now my children will continue to get abused, and there is nothing I can do about it. I failed my children. Update: I spoke to 4 different attorneys who agreed with my lawyer. But I never gave up on my kids. I started studying international law. Three days before the last court date, I found information that said ‘Under the UCCJEA, the home state of a child is the state where they have lived for at least six consecutive months before the custody case is filed.’ It also says that even if a parent waives jurisdiction, they cannot waive jurisdiction for the children, as the state where they live has a responsibility to protect the best interest of the children. I sent my lawyer this information just three days before the last trial date along with some case law. My lawyer was wrong. I taught my lawyer how to fight this. I won. No matter how bad things get, never give up.
Have you asked the court to hold the passports? I worked on a pro bono international kidnapping case, and we agreed the passports would be in the court’s custody.
Passports expired. My ex brought it up in a conference saying she wanted our kids to visit their grandma. I said no because she might just stay in her country.
How your lawyer didn’t know about UCCJEA is beyond comprehension.
How old are the children? If no one is listening to you on the abuse, can’t they tell a school counselor?
They are 5 and 6. A year ago, my daughter reported it. They didn’t listen until she came to school with a black eye.
Good going!!!
Well, your lawyer wasn’t wrong; you did lose custody of your children. The problem is your children are not in the country. Did you file for divorce in the US first?
No, my children have been in New York for the past 34 months.
Sorry to hear you and your kids are going through this. You haven’t ruined their lives; just do everything in your power to not allow the court system to ruin it for them.
Keep your head up. You aren’t alone in this fight 
Thank you.