No. 25-666

Samantha Estefenia Francisco Castro v. Jose Leonardo Brito Guevara

Lower Court: Fifth Circuit
Docketed: 2025-12-08
Status: Pending
Type: Paid
Response RequestedResponse Waived
Tags: child-abduction clear-error de-novo-review habitual-residence hague-convention well-settled-defense
Key Terms:
Immigration Privacy
Latest Conference: 2026-02-20
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Is a trial court's determination that a child is 'well settled' subject to de novo review, or is it reviewed for clear error?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction generally requires the return of a child to his or her country of habitual residence . But when a Hague Con vention petition is brought more than a year after the child’s removal, a court need not return the child if “it is demonstrated that the child is now settled in its new environment” (the “well settled” defense). Hague Convention, art. 12. In determin ing whether a child is sufficiently settled for the purposes of the “well settled” defense , a trial court consider s the totality of the circumstances, including factors like the child’s age, the stability and duration of the child’s residence in the new environment , the child’s school attendance, and the extent of the child’s participation in his or her new community. After considering and weighing all th e facts , the trial court must then decide whether the child has become sufficiently settled in th e new environment . The question presented is: Is a trial court’s determination that a child is “well settled” subject to de novo review, or is it reviewed for clear error?

Docket Entries

2026-01-16
Response Requested. (Due February 17, 2026)
2026-01-14
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/20/2026.
2026-01-07
Waiver of right of respondent Jose L. Brito Guevara to respond filed.
2025-12-04
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 7, 2026)

Attorneys

Jose L. Brito Guevara
Jonathan Stuart Zaidins HermannAlston & Bird LLP, Respondent
Mia Lucienne FalzaranoAlston & Bird LLP, Respondent
Mia Lucienne FalzaranoAlston & Bird LLP, Respondent
Jonathan Stuart Zaidins HermannAlston & Bird LLP, Respondent
Samantha Estefania Francisco Castro
Roger Clyfton DisekerDuane Morris LLP, Petitioner
Roger Clyfton DisekerDuane Morris LLP, Petitioner