{"data":{"id":"us-nc/n.c.-gen.-stat.-50a-417","jurisdiction":"us-nc","citation":"N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50A-417","heading":"Factors to determine risk of abduction.","body":"(a)\tIn determining whether there is a credible risk of abduction of a child, the court must consider any evidence that the petitioner or respondent has done or is doing any of the following:\n(1)\tHas previously abducted or attempted to abduct the child.\n(2)\tHas threatened to abduct the child.\n(3)\tHas recently engaged in activities that may indicate a planned abduction, including any of the following:\na.\tAbandoning employment.\nb.\tSelling a primary residence.\nc.\tTerminating a lease.\nd.\tClosing bank or other financial management accounts, liquidating assets, hiding or destroying financial documents, or conducting any unusual financial activities.\ne.\tApplying for a passport or visa or obtaining travel documents for the respondent, a family member, or the child.\nf.\tSeeking to obtain the child's birth certificate or school or medical records.\n(4)\tHas engaged in domestic violence, stalking, or child abuse or neglect.\n(5)\tHas refused to follow a child-custody determination.\n(6)\tLacks strong familial, financial, emotional, or cultural ties to the State or the United States.\n(7)\tHas strong familial, financial, emotional, or cultural ties to another state or country.\n(8)\tIs likely to take the child to a country that meets any of the following descriptions:\na.\tThe country is 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.\nb.\tThe country is a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, but the country also meets any of the following descriptions:\n1.\tThe Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is not in force between the United States and the country.\n2.\tThe country is noncompliant according to the most recent compliance report issued by the United States Department of State.\n3.\tThe country lacks legal mechanisms for immediately and effectively enforcing a return order under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.\nc.\tThe country poses a risk that the child's physical or emotional health or safety would be endangered because of specific circumstances relating to the child or because of human rights violations committed against children.\nd.\tThe country has laws or practices that would do any of the following:\n1.\tEnable the respondent, without due cause, to prevent the petitioner from contacting the child.\n2.\tRestrict the petitioner from freely traveling to or exiting from the country because of the petitioner's gender, nationality, marital status, or religion.\n3.\tRestrict 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.\ne.\tThe country is included by the United States Department of State on a current list of state sponsors of terrorism.\nf.\tThe country has no official United States diplomatic presence.\ng.\tThe country is engaged in active military action or war, including a civil war, to which the child may be exposed.\n(9)\tIs undergoing a change in immigration or citizenship status that would adversely affect the person's ability to remain in the United States lawfully.\n(10)\tHas had an application for United States citizenship denied.\n(11)\tHas 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 drivers license, or other government-issued identification card or has made a misrepresentation to the United States government.\n(12)\tHas used multiple names to attempt to mislead or defraud.\n(13)\tHas engaged in any other conduct the court considers relevant to the risk of abduction.\n(b)\tIn the hearing on a petition under this Article, the court must 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. (2025-25, s. 45(b).)","path":["Chapter 50A. Uniform Acts on Children.","Article 4. Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act."],"source_url":"https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_50A/GS_50A-417.html","current_through":"S.L. 2026-30","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T18:04:27Z","sha256":"0836847dbc1ba3864fc1d5fdb0c36dbdbe4063c415f6cd4cd1181aa4f7fa18dd","source_id":"us-nc","stale":false,"prev":"us-nc/n.c.-gen.-stat.-50a-416","next":"us-nc/n.c.-gen.-stat.-50a-418"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}