Allen

Harry J. Allen has petitioned this court for a writ of prohibition, mandate, certiorari and habeas corpus. He and Clydette Allen, the real party in interest, were married in Billings, Montana, on November 22, 1952. Thereafter they established their home in Yellowstone County, Montana, and two children, Craig J. Allen, age 6, and Troy Hart Allen, age 4, both boys, were born of the marriage. On July 22, 1959, Clydette was granted an interlocutory decree of divorce from Harry, and the court ordered that the care, custody and control of said minor children and their support, should be governed by the property settlement agreement which had been entered into by the parties. The court expressly ratified and approved the terms and conditions of said agreement and incorporated them into the decree by reference.

The provisions of said agreement, pertinent here, are as follows :

Clydette resided in Montana with the two children until May 11, 1961, when, without consent of the district court or of her former husband, she surreptitiously removed the two boys from the State of Montana, and departed without leaving word of her destination. Petitioner immediately instituted a search for his…