There have been positive changes to custody law and military parents, thanks to the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act (UDPCVA). At the end of 2015, only nine states had adopted the UDPCVA, but on January 1, 2016, Nebraska became the 10th state to embrace the act. The Uniform Law Commission promotes the Act as a way to protect the best interests of children who have deployed parents.
Custody Law & Military Parents
The UDPCVA does not penalize parents for their willingness to serve their country. The Act also protects the rights of parents who are not deployed. This is where the controversy over the act comes in. It makes sense that non-deployed parents have custody when the other is away. This is what the parental preference doctrine also states.
If a child custody order is not in place and the parents cannot agree on custodial and visitation issues, the parents may take the case to court. Under the UDPCVA, a judge can assign custody of a child to a non-parental figure in the child’s life. In this instance, the judge determines what is in the best interest of the child. It would be a temporary court order, which would end when the period of deployment was over.
Case Example
What happens when a custodial parent deploys? The parent can appeal to the court to award custody to their current spouse, the child’s stepparent. Once the parent returns from deployment, the original custody and visitation order will go back into effect.
The courts have already upheld the UDPCVA in several states, including this Iowa case, in which the scenario above actually happened and the mother-in-law was awarded custody during the father’s deployment. If you are a parent who might be deployed or the other parent of your child is getting deployed, and you cannot agree on custody during the deployment, contact or call Johnson & Pekny LLC at (402) 298-8288. We know child custody and visitation laws in Omaha, Plattsmouth and Blair. We can help when military deployment comes into the picture.