Lawrence S. Katz - a Miami, Miami (FL) Divorce/dissolution of marriage Lawyer

Miami Divorce/dissolution of marriage Lawyer

Updated: 06/26/2026

Areas of Practice

Divorce/dissolution of marriage
Complex matrimonial matters
Custody, time-sharing and support
Paternity and disestablishment
Property and marital settlement agreements
Post- judgment enforcement and modification
High net worth divorce
Registration and empowerment
Parental kidnapping
Domestic torts
Domestic Violence
Complex jurisdictional issues
International family law
Interstate and international child abduction
Interstate and international custody and support
Foreign judgement
Registration and enforcement of foreign judgments

Attorney Information

Overview

Lawrence S. Katz is a Fellow in The International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL). He focuses his practice on family law, complex jurisdictional issues, interstate and international family law as well as child abduction. He has practiced law for five decades.

In 2010, the U.S. Chapter of the IAFL established the Bill Hilton Memorial Award for Exceptional Contributions to International Family Law. A Fellow cannot apply, and it is not an annual award. The first time it was given was in June 2014 and Mr. Katz was a recipient. This is the highest and only such award given by the U.S. Chapter of the IAFL.

He has been counsel of record, mentored or consulted in over 400 Hague Convention and child abduction cases. Mr. Katz was the first and in the majority of cases, the only U.S. attorney to recover children from: Turkey, (non-Hague) Iran, Saudi Arabia and Japan (using “Special Family Circumstances”) as well as to return children to Haiti, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Russia and Trinidad. Mr. Katz also conducted the first mediation in a Hague case in a pilot program for NCMEC and the U.S. Dept. of State in November 2005.

Mr. Katz has lectured and published on international relocation for the ABA, a portion of the article was quoted by the Georgia S. Ct. in Sahibzada v. Sahibzada, 2014 Ga. LEXIS 219 (S.Ct. Ga. 2014). He has successfully represented clients in international relocation cases and is responsible for drafting the relevant portions of the agreement and final decrees with respect to relocation, jurisdiction, homologation and enforcement. He has litigated international relocation cases: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. In 2012 he testified as an expert and prepared provisions of the final judgment (7 pages) permitting a mother to relocate to Argentina with her two minor children. In 2013, he was co-counsel in relocation from the U.K. to Florida. He has drafted proposed language that has been utilized by foreign courts for custody, residency, relocation and Hague orders.

Mr. Katz has testified on numerous occasions as an expert witness in international matters, especially concerning The Hague Abduction Convention, relocation, abduction factors/profiles, preventive measures, drafting and enforcement of court orders. In July 2013-present, his testimony resulted in orders that prevented travel of children to Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Haiti, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico and Peru. He has been requested by various courts to draft provisions of orders or decrees. In addition, he is retained as counsel, co-counsel or an expert for: complex jurisdictional cases; drafting provisions of agreements, court orders, judgments; international abduction cases, preventive measures, travel, and international or interstate relocations.

Awards and Honors

Awards

Super Lawyers® Selectees

Lawrence S. Katz included in a Super Lawyers® list

Honors

International Academy of Family Lawyers, U.S. Chapter, Bill Hilton Memorial Award for Exceptional Contributions to International Family Law
AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®
Listed in the Martindale-Hubbell® Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers
Fellow, International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL)
Listed in “Who’s Who in America, the World and Law”
Named among the Top Attorneys in Florida by Super Lawyers
Selected for Florida Legal Elite
Top Lawyers in Florida
Received The First Family Law American Inn of Court award for service
Awards of Merit from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the U.S Department of State Certificate of Appreciation for Extraordinary Assistance to Hague Convention Applicants
Certificate of Recognition from ABA, Section of Family Law for Service as Chair of the International Law Committee
Global Law Experts Annual Award Winner
Lawyers Of Distinction And Excellence In Family Law
Best Lawyers

Other Sources of Feedback About Lawrence S. Katz

Included on the 2026 Florida Super Lawyers list

Past Lists

2025 Florida Super Lawyers list
2024 Florida Super Lawyers list
2023 Florida Super Lawyers list
2022 Florida Super Lawyers list
2021 Florida Super Lawyers list
2020 Florida Super Lawyers list
2019 Florida Super Lawyers list
2018 Florida Super Lawyers list
2017 Florida Super Lawyers list
2016 Florida Super Lawyers list
2015 Florida Super Lawyers list
2014 Florida Super Lawyers list
2013 Florida Super Lawyers list
2012 Florida Super Lawyers list
2011 Florida Super Lawyers list
2010 Florida Super Lawyers list

Education

Legal Education

University of Miami School of Law, Coral Gables, Florida, 1968
J.D.
Honors: Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity

Non Legal Education

University of Miami, 1965
B.B.A.
Honors: Phi Epsilon Pi Fraternity, President

Current Employment Position(s)

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Founder
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Languages

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Spanish
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Classes and Seminars

Lecturer, “Records and the Abducted Child,” Children’s Records Law in Florida, 1999, 2000, 2001
Lecturer, Twelfth Annual Nuts and Bolts of Divorce, DCBA Family Courts Committee (2005). “Economic Injunctions/Freeze Orders Domestic and Foreign.”
Lecturer, “Abduction Factors and Fla. Stat. §61.45 as it Concerns International Visitation and Child Custody,” First Family American Inn of Court (2006)
Lecturer, Family Law Update 19th Judicial Circuit in St. Lucie County, Florida (2007), “Int’l Child Abduction: Returning Kids Home & Making the Abductor Pay Through Hague or UCCJEA.”
Lecturer, “Cross-Border Family Mediation with an Emphasis on the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction” sponsored by the University of Miami School of Law and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) (February 2008)
Participant, ICARA 15 Symposium. Office of Children’s Issues, Department of State, 2003
Attended the Fifth meeting of the Special Commission to Review the Operation of The Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction held at The Hague, Netherlands 2006
Member of Study Group of the Secretary of State Advisory Committee of Private International Law considering the 1996 Hague Protection of Children Convention, 2007
Lecturer, “From Ferreting to Fetching: How to Find, Freeze and Retrieve Marital Assets Hidden Abroad,” ABA Section of Family Law, 2009 Spring CLE Conference
Lecturer, “Moving from Kansas to Oz: Competing Paradigms and Practical Issues in International Child Custody Relocation Cases,” Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), 46th Annual Conference, May 2009
Lecturer, “Transnational Families: Where International Law and Family Law Intersect,” 2009 Florida College of Advanced Judicial Studies
Lecturer, “Mediating International Child Abduction Cases and Other High Conflict Cross-Border Custody Disputes,” ABA Section of International Law, 2009 Fall CLE Conference
Lecturer, “Alternative to The Hague by Returning Kids Home and Making the Abductor Pay Through the UCCJEA”, U.S. Chapter of the IAFL, 2011 Annual General Meeting
Lecturer, “Case Study: Application to Remove a Child From the Jurisdiction”, IAFL, 2011 Annual General Meeting held at Harrogate, U.K., September 2011
Lecturer, “1980 Hague Convention”, Lunch and Learn Seminar Sponsored by Family Court Services, October 2011
Lecturer, “Representing the Abducting Parent”, Japanese Symposium, IAFL, U.S. Chapter held at Minneapolis, MN, June 2012
Lecturer, “Enforcement of Mediated Agreements”, Japanese Symposium, IAFL, U.S. Chapter held at Minneapolis, MN, June 2012
Lecturer, “International Enforcement of Mediated Agreements: Properly Structuring Your Agreements for Enforcement Success.”, IAFL, U.S. Chapter held at Minneapolis, MN, June 2012
Lecturer, “Mediating Hague Abduction Cases.” Phoenix Symposium, IAFL, U.S. Chapter, held at Carefree, AZ, February 2013
Lecturer, “International Relocation”, IAFL Hague Symposium, held at Colegio Puplico de Abogados de Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 2013
Lecturer, “Domestic Violence and the Article 13(b), Grave Risk Defense”, IAFL Annual Meeting held at Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 2013
Lecturer, “2007 Hague Maintenance Convention, 1996 Hague Jurisdictional Convention, the Cuban Adjustment Act and Asylum vs. Art. 13(b) grave risk”, IAFL European Chapter Meeting held at Bordeaux, France, March 2014
Lecturer, “The Aftermath of Lozano: Defending Against the Well Settled Defense Under Art. 12”, IAFL, U.S. Chapter held at New York City, NY, June 2014
Lecturer, “Hague Abduction Convention and UCCJEA”, Florida Chapter of the AAML, The 37th Annual Institute, Tampa, FL, May 2015
Lecturer, “Asylum and Hague Abduction Convention”, IAFL Hague Symposium, held in Quebec City, Canada, June 2015
Lecturer, “UCCJEA or Hague Convention”, IAFL Symposium on International Family Law, held at The Down Town Association, New York City, NY, April 2016
Presenter, “Enforcement of The Hague Abduction Convention: A Project for Japan”, International Visitor Leadership Program, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Dept. of State, Miami, FL, December 2016
Speaker, “Enforcement, Domestication and Registration of Orders and the Treatment of Alimony Worldwide”, IAFL Symposium on International Family Law, held at The Down Town Association, New York City, NY, April 2017
Speaker, “A View From and Presentation to the Bench: Hague International Law Issues and Assessing Flight Risk”, IAFL Symposium on International Family Law, held at The Down Town Association, New York City, NY, April 2017
Observer/attendee on behalf of IAFL (NGO) at the Seventh meeting of the Special Commission to Review the Operation of The Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and The Hague Convention of 19 October 1996 on, Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforceability and Measures for the Protection of Children held at The Hague, Netherlands, October, 2017
Lecturer, “Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and International Child Abduction Remedies Act,” First Family American Inn of Court (2021)
Lecturer, “Expedited Enforcement of Foreign Child Custody Decrees and Defenses Under the UCCJEA as an Alternative to the Hague Abduction Convention”, Case Western Reserve University Law School, Cleveland, Ohio, November 2022
Lecturer, “Hague Abduction Convention and UCCJEA”, USA Chapter Introduction to International Family Law Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 2026

Representative Cases

In Re Cabrera, 323 F.Supp.2d 1303 (S.D. Fla. 2004) (return to Argentina the court found equitable tolling and held that a child should be returned rather than threatened with possible deportation).
Leslie v. Noble, 377 F. Supp. 2d 1232 (S.D. Fla. 2005) (held that father had rights of custody before, during and after paternity court proceedings in Belize).
Marcos v. Haecker, 915 So.2d 703 (Fla. 3rd DCA 2005) (international paternity case involving Spain, Mexico and Florida where a motion to quash service of process was affirmed on appeal).
Dallemagne v Dallemagne, 440 F. Supp. 2d 1283 (M.D. Fla. 2006) (return to France and provides an excellent analysis of burden of proof and defenses).
Angulo Garcia v. Fernandez Angarita, 440 F. Supp. 2d 1364 (S.D. Fla. 2006) (return to Colombia and held, in part, that consent to travel is invalid if procured by fraud).
Hanley v. Roy, 485 F.3rd 641 (11th Cir. 2007) (The 11th Circuit reversed the trial courts denial of an order to the return of children to grandparents/guardians).
Giavis v. Mack, 2008 Fla. App. LEXIS 12974 (Fla. 3RD DCA 2008) (Pick up order including extensive jurisdictional and Hague Abduction Convention language affirmed)
Dyce v. Christie, 17 So.3rd 892 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009) (expedited enforcement of final decree from Jamaica, child abduction, collateral attack of foreign judgment, due process of law and finding that if country does not base its custody decisions on best interests, then it violates human rights under the UCCJEA).
Abdo v. Ichai, 34 So.3rd 13 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010) (PCA affirmed order permitting mother to relocate to France, retaining habitual residence in the United States and transferring jurisdiction to California).
Sarpel v. Eflanli, 65 So.3rd 1080 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (Temporary absence and the establishment of “home state” subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to the U.C.C.J.E.A. and anti-suit injunction preventing the former wife from attempting to modify the final judgment from Florida and “mirror orders” entered in Turkey).
Hoke v. Hoke, 141 So. 3d 190 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014) (Order of transfer of case to DC affirmed).
Morales v Martinez, 4 F. Supp. 3d 1338 (M.D. Fla. 2014) (Order granting petition and return of child to Mexico).
Sahibzada v. Sahibzada, 2014 Ga. LEXIS 219 (S.Ct. Ga. 2014) (Supreme Court quoted from ABA article on international relocation cited above).
Carlwig v. Carlwig, 16 F. Supp. 3d 1075 (C.D. Ca. 2014) (Case of first impression on habitual residence by returning infant born in California to Sweden along with older brother where parties had shared intent to do so).
Carlwig v. Carlwig, U.S. App. LEXIS, 6353 (9th Cir. 2015) (Infant was not habitual residence of either U.S. or Sweden. Both children shall remain in Sweden).
Roberts v. Mohan, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139377 (M.D. Fla. 2015) (Order of return of child to Trinidad Tobago).
Scudder v Scudder, 228 So. 3rd 703 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017) (Remanded to determine jurisdiction for dissolution of marriage and held no jurisdiction pursuant to the UCCJEA).
In Re Arison-Dorsman, 2004 U.S. Dist. Lexis 9681, 32 Media L. Rep. 1699 (S.D. Fla. 2004) (return ordered to Israel: record should not be sealed).
Levy v Makri, 2020 WL 1540984 (Fla. 3d DCA April 1, 2020) (PCA denying motion for enforcement of Cyprus child custody decree).
Berenguela-Alvarado v. Castanos, 950 F. 3d 1352 (11th Cir. 2020) (Reversed and remanded finding mother did not consent for child to remain in the U.S.)
Berenguela-Alvarado v. Castaños, 2020 WL 3791569 (11th Cir. July 7, 2020) (The district court effectively employed the requisite totality of the circumstances analysis to determine that the child’s habitual residence was Chile)
Alobaid v. Khan, 306 So. 3rd 159 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000) (Domestic violence appeal involving acts in the US and Kuwait plus UCCJEA emergency jurisdiction)
Rubio v. Alvarez, 526 F. Supp. 3d 1186 (S.D. Fla. 2021) (Child was well settled under Art. 12 of the Convention and not returned to Mexico) Represented Alvarez.
In re Khan, 2021 Fla. Cir. LEXIS 14685. (This is the actual opinion of Circuit Court Judge Zayas for which she was congratulated by the Third District cited below. It goes into great detail of virtually all aspects of international child custody decrees, service of process, temporary absence and human rights.)
Alobaid v. Khan, 352 So.3d 519 (Fla. 3rd DCA 2022) (Denial of the registration of a Kuwait child custody decree. The courts followed Sarpel on the issue of temporary absence and also finding that Kuwait Law does not use the Best Interests standard as set forth in Dyce and therefore violates human rights.)
Teixera v. Perez Paez, Case No. 26-10101, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (April 13, 2026) Unpublished Opinion affirming U.S. District Court for Southern District of Florida that granted Hague petition for return of children to Venezuela. The abducting mother retained new counsel attacking her former counsel’s failure to preserve and present evidence of grave risk affirmative defense. The mother utilized her asylum application to form a grave risk defense that was denied.

Published Works

Articles

Author, “When the? Involves an International Move, The Answer May Lie in Retaining U.S. Jurisdiction,” ABA Section Family Law, Family Advocate Spring 2006. A portion of which was quoted by the Georgia S. Ct. in Sahibzada v. Sahibzada, 2014 Ga. LEXIS 219 (S. Ct. Ga. 2014).
Author, “Japan and the Hague Abduction Convention”, IAFL Online News, Issue 3, May 2018.

Bar Admissions

Florida, 1968
U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit, 1996
U.S. Supreme Court, 1980
U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 1971
U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 1996
U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida, 1968
U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida, 1981
Supreme Court of Florida, 1971
U.S. District Court, 1971
U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 2014

Other Affiliations

American Bar Association, Criminal Section: International Criminal Law Committee, 1971–1994; Criminal Defense Function Committee, 1989–1996
American Bar Association: Family Law Section, International Law Committee, Chairman (2007-9) and Immediate Past Chairman (2009-2011)
American Bar Association, International Section: International Family Law Committee, 2005–present; Steering Committee, 2007–present
Florida Bar Association: former member; Continuing Legal Education, Children's Issues Committees, Legislation, Mental Health in Litigation, and Domestic Violence Committees
International Society of Family Law
First Family Law American Inn of Court (president, 2009-2010)
Fellow, International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL), Board of Managers and Chairman of Committee on Hague Conventions (2010-2016)
U.S. Chapter of the IAFL, Member of the Board of Managers (2017-2023), Chairman of the Committee on Hague Conventions (2010-2016) member of the Admissions Committee (2010- 2016), presently Member of Committee on Hague Conventions
Mentor, International Child Abduction Attorney's Network (ICAAN), the U.S. Department of State, Office of Children’s Issues Attorney Network, and Federal Bar Association
Member, International Society of Family Law
First Family Law American Inn of Court, President (2009-10)
Domestic Violence Committee, Vice Chairman (2009- 2011)
International Law Section, Family Law Committee, member of Steering Committee

Fraternities and Sororities

Phi Alpha Delta

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Miami, FL

Two Datran Center
9130 South Dadeland Blvd
Suite 1511
Miami, FL 33156

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Phone Number: 786-304-1180

Fax Number: 305-670-1314

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Lawrence S. Katz - Miami, FL