|
Courts always determine child custody arrangements based on what it sees as the best interests of the child. This means that whatever seems to serve the child's well-being is what the court will go with, and this is determined by several factors. However, if the child's parent/s are serving in the military, custody issues may arise during times that the parent/s are deployed.
Since military parents can be deployed to serve in a foreign country, it's possible that they may need to give up temporary custody. The problem is that sometimes when they come back, they also have to deal with custody battles. Parents who keep the children for temporary custody may ask the courts to make the temporary arrangement a permanent one because this may be better for the child. In a sense, you can say that military parents face these issues because of their service to the country.
Typically, a military personnel is covered by SCRA (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act), which allows a temporary stay of civil proceedings while he/she is deployed. However, the SCRA doesn't cover child custody proceedings. The interest of a child take precedence over federal legal protections.
There are over 20 states in the country that believe servicemembers should not be penalized for their service to the country. In these states, military parents are allowed to regain custody of their children after they return from duty. These states have laws that prevent child custody arrangements from being changed permanently solely because of a military parent's deployment.
One thing that could make determining jurisdiction harder in cases of military service personnel is relocation. If the military personnel has stayed in a foreign base for some time, jurisdiction may be given to foreign courts. The person's home court takes jurisdiction if the absence from the state is temporary.
Military parents who take the child with them wrongfully (when they have no custody of the child) may be located via the military's locator services and be required to follow court orders.
|
Subscribe
