Jeremy D. Morley

The 11th Circuit has held that, whether a child is “settled” in its new environment within the meaning of Article 12 of the Hague Abduction Convention, should be based on the same totality-of-the-circumstances test that the Supreme Court established in the Monasky case for determining a child's habitual residence under the Convention. 

The Circuit Court therefore held, in a most significant ruling, that the assessment of whether a child is settled presents a task for fact-finding courts, not appellate courts, and should be judged on appeal by a clear error review standard that is deferential to the fact-finding court. Cuenca v. Rojas, 99 F.4th 1344 (11th Cir. 2024).

This is an important ruling that may facilitate the efficient resolution of Hague Convention abduction cases.