If you are going through a divorce and you have children, it's extremely important that you take steps to make sure that child custody issues are worked out immediately, even in what you think is a friendly divorce.  Parental kidnapping accounts for the largest majority of kidnapping cases in the United States, and they most often happen during custody disputes. In many instances, the non-kidnapping parent thinks that everything is fine. 

This was the case with me not even one year ago. My husband and I were separated and were very friendly. We were waiting for the sale of our home to be complete before going to court to get a divorce. We shared custody of the kids and I thought that everything was fine - until my husband took my two daughters from Hawaii to Michigan without my knowledge!  Thankfully, everything worked out quite quickly and my children are back home again, but stories like these don't always have happy endings.  

If you are going through a divorce, or are just separated, don't assume that things will work out.  It's best to immediately file papers and get a temporary custody order in place that specifies that neither parent can take minor children out of the state.  If you aren't ready to file for divorce, at least make sure that an agreement is drawn up between  you and your spouse that specifies that both agree on living arrangements, visitation, and rules about leaving the state. Both parties should sign it and the agreement should be notarized.  This will help to prevent parental kidnapping and will give you some legal standing if something should happen.  Had I had the foresight to do this, it would have saved thousands in legal fees, thousands more in travel costs to get my children back home, and most importantly - it would have spared my children the fear and uncertainty that they felt when they were taken from their home and me.  

Parental kidnapping is real and it happens every day. Make sure that you take steps right away to make sure that it never happens to you.  Ideally, you would be able to hire an attorney and agree on child custody issues immediately upon getting separated, but if hiring an attorney is not an option immediately, at the very least, protect yourself with a written agreement signed by both you and your spouse and notarized.