{"data":{"id":"us-dc/d.c.-code-16-4604.07","jurisdiction":"us-dc","citation":"D.C. Code § 16-4604.07","heading":"Factors to determine risk of abduction.","body":"(a)\nIn determining whether there is a credible risk of abduction of a child, the court shall consider any evidence that the petitioner or respondent:\n(1)\nHas previously abducted or attempted to abduct the child;\n(2)\nHas threatened to abduct the child;\n(3)\nHas recently engaged in activities that may indicate a planned abduction, including:\n(A)\nAbandoning employment;\n(B)\nSelling a primary residence;\n(C)\nTerminating a lease;\n(D)\nClosing bank or other financial management accounts, liquidating assets, hiding or destroying financial documents, or conducting any unusual financial activities;\n(E)\nApplying for a passport or visa or obtaining travel documents for the respondent, a family member, or the child; or\n(F)\nSeeking to obtain the child’s birth certificate or school or medical records;\n(4)\nHas engaged in domestic violence, stalking, or child abuse or neglect;\n(5)\nHas refused to follow a child-custody determination;\n(6)\nLacks strong familial, financial, emotional, or cultural ties to the state or the United States;\n(7)\nHas strong familial, financial, emotional, or cultural ties to another state or country;\n(8)\nIs likely to take the child to a country that:\n(A)\nIs not a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and does not provide for the extradition of an abducting parent or for the return of an abducted child;\n(B)\nIs a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction but:\n(i)\nThe Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is not in force between the United States and that country;\n(ii)\nIs noncompliant according to the most recent compliance report issued by the United States Department of State; or\n(iii)\nLacks legal mechanisms for immediately and effectively enforcing a return order under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction;\n(C)\nPoses a risk that the child’s physical or emotional health or safety would be endangered in the country because of specific circumstances relating to the child or because of human rights violations committed against children;\n(D)\nHas laws or practices that would:\n(i)\nEnable the respondent, without due cause, to prevent the petitioner from contacting the child;\n(ii)\nRestrict the petitioner from freely traveling to or exiting from the country because of the petitioner’s gender, nationality, marital status, or religion; or\n(iii)\nRestrict the child’s ability legally to leave the country after the child reaches the age of majority because of a child’s gender, nationality, or religion;\n(E)\nIs included by the United States Department of State on a current list of state sponsors of terrorism;\n(F)\nDoes not have an official United States diplomatic presence in the country; or\n(G)\nIs engaged in active military action or war, including a civil war, to which the child may be exposed;\n(9)\nIs undergoing a change in immigration or citizenship status that would adversely affect the respondent’s ability to remain in the United States legally;\n(10)\nHas had an application for United States citizenship denied;\n(11)\nHas forged or presented misleading or false evidence on government forms or supporting documents to obtain or attempt to obtain a passport, a visa, travel documents, a Social Security card, a driver’s license, or other government-issued identification card, or has made a misrepresentation to the United States government;\n(12)\nHas used multiple names to attempt to mislead or defraud; or\n(13)\nHas engaged in any other conduct the court considers relevant to the risk of abduction.\n\n(b)\nIn the hearing on a petition under this subchapter, the court shall consider any evidence that the respondent believed in good faith that the respondent’s conduct was necessary to avoid imminent harm to the child or respondent and any other evidence that may be relevant to whether the respondent may be permitted to remove or retain the child.","path":["Title 16. Particular Actions, Proceedings and Matters. [Enacted title]","Chapter 46. Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement.","Subchapter IV. Child Abduction Prevention."],"source_url":"https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/16-4604.07","current_through":"2026-08-20 (D.C. Law 26-175)","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-29T05:44:07Z","sha256":"98343ab649c52b21ce9e2c1ddbad4d0e47b456f135e4ca4e568f82fbdf335723","source_id":"us-dc","stale":false,"prev":"us-dc/d.c.-code-16-4604.06","next":"us-dc/d.c.-code-16-4604.08"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}