The essential facts are:

• Michael Donnelly and Made Jati married in California in 1985. Marriage 1985
• Made Jati filed an Accusation of Divorce in 2005 without mentioning that marriage, and she claimed a Bali Hindu marriage in Kuta in 1996. With the children born in 1993 and 1994, a 1996 marriage would have made them anak haram or bastards born out of wedlock and would have erased Michael's legal rights as a father. Accusation of Divorce
• In that Accusation, Made Jati claimed that Michael was not a member of the family, she entered a Family Registration Card from 1997 to prove it, and with that she claimed sole custody of the children. Family Registration Card 1997
• The Decision of the National Court in Denpasar accepted Made Jati's and her witnesses' claims of a 1996 marriage (although her witnesses claimed the marriage took place in 1996 in Sanur, not Kuta). The court granted a divorce based upon a 1996 Bali marriage and granted sole custody of the children to Made Jati. Decision of National Court Denpasar
• Austrindo Law Office failed to enter a Memo of Appeal to the High Court, and the High Court upheld the Decision of the National Court. Decision of the High Court Denpasar
• In a later Reply to Accusation of Action Contrary to Law, Made Jati admitted that, contrary to her and her witnesses' statements in the Accusation of Divorce:
  • the actual Bali Hindu marriage ceremony occurred in 1994 (but this time in Tabanan, not Kuta or Sanur), and
  • the original marriage occured in Los Angeles, California in 1985.
  Reply by Made Jati to "Action Contrary to Law"
• Subsequent decisions by the Supreme Court of Indonesia ruled that the 1985 California marriage was valid in Indonesia and was now ended by divorce Decision of the Supreme Court of Indonesia - Divorce, that a reinforcing Bali Hindu ceremony occurred in Sanur (not Kuta or Tabanan) in 1994, that Made Jati's acquisition of new marriage documents in Denpasar in 1996 was an Action Contrary to Law - that is, illegal - and her new documents had no power under law. Decision of the Supreme Court of Indonesia - PMH
• Made Jati's Extraordinary Appeals on both these Supreme Court decisions were rejected by the court. Rejection of PK by the Supreme Court of Indonesia
• Made Jati's own Bali attorney, Ida Bagus Wikantara, advised her to abandon her children and flee California rather than cooperate with court orders for deposition and visitation with the children. Declaration of Ida Bagus Wikantara
• The California Superior Court granted complete custody to Michael, expressing reluctance to do so but stating that Made Jati had abandoned her children and had given the court no other choice in the matter. Decision of the Superior Court of California