Habitual residence, in family law is is the place where a child has been physically present for an amount of time sufficient for acclimatization and which feels settled in a home from the child’s perspective. It is a factor examined sometimes in child custody cases where the parents live apart. Habitual residence is a factor used in such laws as the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, Dec. 23, 1981, 51 Fed. Reg. 10494, as implemented by the United States in the International Child Abduction Remedies Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 11601-11610.
