Anita Vimláti

What is your opinion on the law / case law on child relocation in your country?

The principles of the Hague Convention and the relevant European Union regulation are well enforced in practice in Hungary, the procedure is quick and professional. These types of cases are assigned to Pest Central District Court, and there are several international family lawyers having expertise in abduction cases.

What is your advice to parents who are thinking about relocating with a child?

It is crucial to contact an international family lawyer with appropriate expertise in these cases without delay. Usually immediate action should be taken. Wherever possible, we try to resolve the dispute in a low-conflict way, so parallel to the legal process, we assess whether there is a chance for an agreement.

What is your advice to parents about international parenting plans?

I find that it helps a lot if we take the time to have a discussion with the parents so that they understand each other better, and so that they could appreciate that being raised in two houses after a divorce or separation can be a difficult adjustment for children.

I have vast experience with issues as child arrangements and creative parental access schedules. I am a believer in the benefits of resolving family disputes out of court and convinced that all it takes is the intention. If parents are really willing to cooperate, national borders cannot be an obstacle to peaceful co-parenting.

When did you first handle a child abduction case?

I have been handling child abduction cases since 2018.

Which child abduction case will you never forget?

A particular highlight in my portfolio includes a case of divorce between a Hungarian husband and a Taiwanese wife who lived in Budapest. After their separation the mother decided to relocate to Kuala Lumpur.

Although this is quite rare, they came to me together for counseling with regard to a possible relocation, and the mother accepted that she could not decide about moving the child to a foreign country without the father’s permission. Both parties were understandably very attached to their 2-year-old daughter, and they were eager to create a system in which the child spends a lot of time with her mother in Malaysia until school age.

I demonstrated my acute awareness that as a lawyer I am in a position of great responsibility, and I recognized the need to facilitate an agreement that is in everyone’s interest, but above all, protects and furthers the child’s interests. Due to jurisdictional and possible future issues the agreement clearly had many complex elements, but I was happy to be able to creatively align the human aspects of practice with legal provisions.