I am in an international custody battle with my Australian wife who has cut all communications between me and my son Alexander for the last year. I am asking for your help to pay the extraordinary legal expenses associated with fighting an international case. 

Immigration Issues

In May of 2023 my wife Mariah took our one year old son Alexander to Australia on what I believed was a temporary vacation to visit her family. I did not go with them at the time because I was the sole income for our household. I also did not book the flights because Mariah's parents agreed to pay for the trip. Once Mariah was overseas, she went back and forth in messages to me about her intentions to return to the United States. We had many long discussions and eventually Mariah agreed to return to the U.S. with our son as was originally planned.

When making plans for the return trip we encountered an issue with Mariah's immigration status. I was unable to resolve the issue, so I hired an immigration attorney in November of 2023. The immigration process was complicated and took a significant period of time to resolve and was extremely emotionally challenging for both of us. Alexander remained with Mariah in Australia during this period. In January of 2024 Mariah texted me, "Alexander is allowed back into the states. I want you to come get him and leave me here. I'm at a breaking point where I can't carry on. That is the only way." I declined her offer at the time because I was convinced that our marriage was still strong and the best thing for her and Alexander at the time was for me to continue working on reuniting our family rather than leaving her alone in Australia.

By April of 2024 we had finally made progress on Mariah's visa, and I traveled to Australia to help with some of the final stages including the Consulate interview in Sydney which took place on June 18, 2024. When I asked how the interview went Mariah was evasive only said that it went "fine". I took this to mean that everything was still on track, and it was only a matter of time before Mariah's visa would be issued. On June 25, 2024, I returned alone to the United States to get back to work as I was still the sole income for our household, and I could not wait for the visa to be approved.

Divorce and Kidnapping

When I landed in LA I sent Mariah a WhatsApp message to let her know I had landed safely. She did not reply initially but eventually sent me a text message that said, "Andrew I won't take you being abusive to me and Alexander anymore. We are finished. I don't want to hear from you anymore." This completely blindsided me and I tried to get an explanation, but Mariah had completely cut off all communication.

I immediately contacted our immigration attorney for advice and once I returned to our home in South Dakota I contacted the State department and began looking for a personal family lawyer to get my son returned to the United States. Mariah eventually reached back out to me in July because she had heard that 2 boxes of her belongings she had sent to America ahead of her return had finally arrived and she wanted me to send them back to her. During this conversation I got her to admit that she lied to me about the consulate interview. She had made a decision just before the interview that she did not want to return to the U.S., so she told the consulate to not approve her visa.

It took me significantly longer to learn what exactly the false abuse allegations were. When I left Australia Mariah and Alexander were staying on a farm in Queensland but sometime after I left Mariah moved herself and Alexander to a new location and it wasn't until February of 2025 that the process server was able to locate them and serve the divorce papers. It was only after she had been served that Mariah made any official allegations of abuse in the form of her response affidavit. Mariah did not file for divorce, child custody, or any sort of restraining order or protective order against me until after she had been served with my divorce suit. I believe this was a deliberate attempt on her part to deny me due process and extend the time she had Alexander in Australia to create a jurisdictional conflict.

Jurisdictional Conflict

Due to the international nature of this conflict and the extended period of time my son has been in Australia there is a question of who has jurisdiction over this child custody dispute. I have already plead my case to the local court in South Dakota and the Judge decided that due to the duration of Alexander's stay in Australia he did not have Jurisdiction over child custody. I have also filed a case with the Hauge international court those proceedings ongoing. Mariah filed a custody case against me in Australia in response to my fillings and those proceedings are on hold pending the Hauge decision. I have been forced to hire three separate law firms one in South Dakota, one in Minneapolis for the Hauge case, and one in Brisbane to represent me in Australia. Hiring all these lawyers has depleted my savings and with the Judge's decision in South Dakota I am forced into a position where I need to continue to retain multiple law firms and fight on the international level as well as in Australia.

In Conclusion 

I need your help. My wife has taken my son and concealed him from me overseas for almost a year at this point. I have been devastated by this separation and the false allegations that were made against me. I have been doing everything I can to properly resolve this situation in the courts, but the financial burden is extreme. I am asking for $20,000 so I can continue to retain my attorneys and to give me the opportunity to travel to Australia to attend hearings in person so that I can at least see my son again.