Military Child Custody

Military parents who share custody of a child often have difficulty dealing with military orders and deployments and their time-sharing or visitation and parenting plans. It is important to have an experienced attorney who can fight for your custody rights in court.

Obligations from being in the military can cause issues in the child custody arrangements and parenting plans that may require modification of original judgments or orders, including relocation of a parent more than 50 miles. Obligations to the military, however, do not take away the rights of a parent or what is in the best interest of the child. Having a family law attorney experienced in military families such as Beth M. Terry, P.A., is essential to ensure your parental rights are protected in your custody  and parenting plan case.

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) was passed In 2003 to protect the rights of military service members who are at risk of being engaged in litigation regarding their child custody arrangements or other matters while they are under deployment. This law gives the service member the option to postpone the child custody or other litigation while they are unable to prepare for such legal hearings due to deployment.

The Florida Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act supplements the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act for military parents.  It prohibits the courts from considering past and future deployments in custodial or time-sharing determinations.  The Act also provides military parents with quicker temporary custodial responsibility determinations and more options as to who will temporarily care for the children, including non-parents, while they are deployed.  

As in all families, each child custody case is unique, so all factors involving the best interests of the children should be considered. Likewise, there are some legal protections taken into consideration in each state to protect the rights of the military parent.

Contact the Jacksonville family law office of Beth M. Terry, P.A., today to set up a consultation.