F&F: Uniform Act Could Benefit Deployed Military Parents

Article here. Excerpt:

'“With deployments on the rise from the first Gulf War through the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, especially for National Guard and Reserve members, a majority of the states have implemented a patchwork of laws designed to protect service members in child custody and visitation cases. But the rules aren't consistent across the country,” says Eric Fish, legal counsel for the Uniform Law Commission.

The Uniform Law Commission approved a new act recently at its 121st Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. The Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act, addresses issues of child custody and visitation that arise when parents are deployed in the military or other national service. The deployment of a custodial parent raises custody issues that are not adequately dealt with in the law of most states. In many instances, deployment will be sudden, making it difficult to resolve custody issues before the deployment by ordinary child custody procedures. The Commission determined that there is a need to ensure that parents who serve their country are not penalized for their service, while still giving adequate weight to the interests of the other parent, and most importantly, the best interest of the child.'