Total Divorce Blog

A recent Associated Press story detailed the difficult circumstances surrounding many U.S. military personnel who are deployed to active duty and lose custody of their children as a result. The story examined the loophole with a federal law called the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which is intended to protect active military personnel during deployment. For example, this federal law provides a minimum 90-day delay for civil court actions and administrative proceedings. While active military personnel can not be evicted or lose their property from creditors during deployment, they may lose custody of children whom they were granted following divorce.

The story described how many ex-spouses of military personnel have sought custody following deployment and how these temporary changes have been made permanent by family court judges, who have argued on behalf of the “best interests of the child” in making these determinations. In coming to this determination, the courts often consider factors like stability for the child and who has been his or her primary emotional provider. These factors obviously create a problem for enlisted servicemen and women when they are called to serve their country.

The story detailed the case of many military personnel, including Iowa Guardsman Mike Grantham, who have lost custody of their kids following deployment. Before reporting for duty in August 2002, Grantham arranged for his two children to live with his mother. Grantham had raised his two kids following his 2000 divorce from his wife Tammara, who requested custody after he was deployed. While not returning for a year, Grantham was stunned when his ex-wife was ruled the primary physical custodian of his children. After an appeals court sided with him, Grantham was struck down by the Iowa Supreme Court, which ruled that Tammara was “presently the most effective parent.” Grantham said in the story that he now has visitation rights with his children that reflect what his wife used to have before he was deployed.

While this problem has certainly affected both male and female military personnel, the AP story attempted to explain the problem in numbers. The Department of Defense reported that more than 74,000 (or 5.4%) of active military personnel are single parents while more than 68,000 Guard and reserve members are also single parents. While military and family law experts did not have specific figures for military personnel who have lost custody of their children following deployment, the story indicated how the problem could become even more prevalent, especially when considering that divorce among military men and women has been on the rise the last couple of years.

With that said, some states have decided to not wait for a change to the federal law and are rather doing their own part to protect military personnel from losing custody of their children. A 2005 California law states that permanent changes in child custody or visitation can not be justified by a parent’s absence due to military duties. Michigan and Kentucky followed with laws stating that temporary custody changes for activation purposes must return to their original agreements once deployment ends. The story added that legislators in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas have proposed similar laws, and we’ll keep you updated on any more developments with this issue.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 8th, 2007 at 10:19 am and is filed under Child Custody Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.