Hague Convention Petition Survives Dismissal Bid Over Irish Father’s Custody Rights

U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, sitting in the Southern District of Indiana, ruled that the respondent, U.S. citizen Lauren Lawson, failed to overcome the petitioner’s claim that he had custody rights under Irish law the child was retained in the United States.

The case involves Bojan Pap, an Irish citizen, and Lawson, who are the parents of a two-year-old child, identified in court documents as AVLP. Pap and Lawson were engaged but never married. They lived together in Ireland from 2019 until August 2023, when they traveled to Indiana for the child’s birth.

The family lived together in Indiana until February 2024, when Pap returned to Ireland to prepare for Lawson and the child’s move. They relocated to Ireland in May 2024.

In March 2025, Lawson took the child to Indiana, telling Pap the trip was to visit family and that they would return by April 24. Instead, she ceased communications and refused to return the child, initiating this action under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Lawson’s motion to dismiss argued the removal was not wrongful because Pap had no custody rights under Irish law. She cited the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, which historically excluded natural fathers of illegitimate infants from automatic guardianship.

Pap countered that the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 amended the 1964 Act to grant automatic guardianship to unmarried fathers who cohabited with the mother for at least 12 consecutive months, including three months after the child’s birth.

Pratt accepted Pap’s allegations as true, noting he and Lawson cohabited from 2019 through early 2024, including the required period after the child’s birth.

"The Court finds that Pap has adequately alleged that he has custody rights under the laws of Ireland, and he has sufficiently asserted a claim that the removal of AVLP was "wrongful" under the Hague Convention," Pratt wrote.

Lawson did not file a reply to Pap’s response and failed to address the 2015 Amendments in her opening brief.

Pratt directed the parties to contact the magistrate judge’s chambers within three days to schedule a status conference to discuss case management and the possibility of settlement.

Pap is represented by Christopher Lynn Clerc of Beck Rocker LLC. Lawson is represented by Anthony G. Joseph of Master Law Group, LLC.