Family law / Hague convention - 'prenup' for international move with DC - grateful for advice

[reluctantwife]

I have NC for obvious reasons.

DH is American and I am British. We have been married two years and have a 7mo DD. She was born in the UK, and we still live here. She has a British and a US passport.

Our marriage is going through a very rough patch - I am very seriously considering leaving. DH is desperate to try to work things out, and to continue with our plan to move to California this autumn.

I am concerned (based on layman's reading of the Hague provisions) that if I do this and the marriage then breaks down, as I suspect it will, that the US will then be DD's country of habitual residence and DH will be able to keep her there. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.

We have discussed this and DH has said that he will put into writing that I will be free to leave US with DD if marriage breaks down.

So my question is - would such an agreement between us have effect in law? and especially in the US jurisdiction?

Sorry if am not asking the right questions, would be enormously grateful for advice.

Thank you so much. One of the sticking points in the talks we've had about ending the marriage is DH can't bear to be parted from DD. He says that if I wanted to leave the States in a year or two that he wouldn't stand in my way and I believe that he means it now - or thinks he does - he is a good person, a lovely man - but of course faced with losing DD in two years he will feel as he does now, he would do or say anything to avoid it. I don't blame him for that but am not naive about it. Being brutal, the law is on my side by virtue of circumstance now, I'm loathe to give up my European residency. But I would like to travel to the US for a fixed period, in order to give things a chance and DH's family a chance to spend time with DD.

I will seek a specialist as you suggest - but grateful for any other MN lawyer input.