A long drawn out child custody case has finally ended. Although the couple involved in the child custody dispute wasn't from Illinois, this case proves the sometimes international reach a case can have.

The boy involved currently lives with his mother in the United States and his father is a British citizen. Although a Chilean court ruled that the couple was not to remove the child from that country while the custody dispute was settled, the woman fled to the United States. The man has been trying to regain custody of the child ever since.

This month a U.S. federal judge dismissed the case saying that the boy turned 16 years old and was no longer covered under The Hague Convention, a treaty that established guidelines for dealing with international child custody disputes.

The dispute went on in the U.S. court system for almost a decade, but now since the boy's age is over the age covered by the treaty, the court doesn't have to decide custody in the case.

Whatever side of the custody battle a person is on, it can be a long battle. Many people care about the wellbeing of their children, so it is understandable that they would want to fight for custody no matter how long it takes. If a parent thinks the wellbeing of their child might be at risk because of a certain child custody agreement, or the lack of an agreement, they might be wise to speak with a family law attorney.

Source: CNN, "Child at center of high court fight over custody gets closure," Bill Mears, Feb. 14, 2012