The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction has a built in time limit for the bringing of an action. As a defense to an abduction or wrongful retention case, a parent who has moved from one country to another can assert that it has been over a year since the move and the child has not become settled in the new environment.

This one year limit will apply if the left behind parent has taken no action to seek a judicial remedy in either the home country or the new country, essentially if a parent waits too long their remedies under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction will disappear.