Will Tennessee Legislators Pass the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act?

Will Tennessee’s legislators consider some form of the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act to address child custody issues raised with military deployment?

Uniform Law Addresses Child Custody and Visitation Issues During Deployment

Tennessee’s legislators may consider the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act

Established in 1892, the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) drafts uniform laws for individual state adoption. For example, the ULC is responsible for writing the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) and the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), both of which were adopted with changes in Tennessee.

The “uniform” aspect of these laws provides greater consistency from one jurisdiction to the next; harmonizing, simplifying, and standardizing state laws to a significant degree. This predictability in the law is particularly important when the subject matter relates to child custody and child support. The ULC’s uniform statutes are typically amended before adoption as state legislators debate and modify the language to suit their jurisdiction’s needs and objectives, often repealing existing statutes in the process.

Which States Have Enacted the UDPCVA?­­

At the ULC’s 121^st Annual Meeting at Nashville in 2012, the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act (UDPCVA) was approved. As of this writing, North Dakota and North Carolina have already enacted the UDPCVA. This child custody legislation has been introduced in Nevada, Colorado, and the District of Columbia as well. Will Tennessee be the next state to consider protective legislation for deploying military personnel and their families?

Demands of Military Service Require Greater Protections

State custody laws can represent a hodgepodge of rules that may effectively punish military personnel who are deployed or re-stationed, something that occurs frequently and is part of the service member’s job description.

The UDPCVA addresses a widespread child custody problem for active duty military. In general, too many states’ custody and visitation laws address the needs of civilian families, but may actually be punitive when applied to the circumstances of military parenting. For the most part, civilian parents pursue remedies and seek relief through the courts without undue delay or inconvenience.

For deploying service members, child custody, parenting time, child support, access and visitation issues present challenges that are quite different from those facing civilian families. Mainly, when ordered to active duty there is insufficient time to address all child custody matters through standard family court  proceedings (after all, time is of the essence when deployment means immediate mobilization). With sudden notice and orders to deploy, military parents must take action to depart immediately. Many state custody and visitation procedures are too cumbersome to address the immediacy of these military circumstances and service members’ parental rights are often negatively impacted.

Key Provisions of the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act

The UDPCVA is intended to address multiple child custody issues tied to military parents’ deployment. To help service members make custody arrangements for their children, the uniform law includes these key provisions:

● To do what is in the best interests of the child during an active duty parent’s deployment;

● To protect the rights of the service members who are serving their country (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, NOAA, and National Guard);

● To protect the rights of the other parent;

● To allow co-parenting arrangements to be made quickly when parents are notified of deployment;

● To allow the state to continue exercising jurisdiction over custody and parenting time matters even though the service member is absent from the state (the residence of the service member is not changed by reason of deployment);

● To allow for written temporary agreements between the parents which specify and grant custodial responsibilities over the child during deployment (unless the agreement is terminated by court order, the agreement terminates when deployment ends);

● To ensure that permanent custody orders are not affected by the necessity of temporary modification agreements between parents when notified of deployment;

● To allow for powers of attorney to delegate custodial responsibilities during deployment;

● To arrange for custodial responsibility which includes legal and physical custody, parenting time, access, visitation, and the authority to designate limited contact to a non-parent;

● To arrange for child care during deployment;

● To arrange decision-making authority during deployment (decision-making authority refers to the power to make important decisions over education, religious training, health care, and the like, but does not include day-to-day child care decisions).

● To provide court procedures for hearings and the granting of temporary orders for custody, child care, decision-making authority, visitation, and child support;

● To provide procedures for terminating temporary orders and agreements when the service member returns;

● To provide for limited contact with a non-parent (a family member or someone standing in loco parentis to the child) as requested by the deploying parent, if in the best interests of the child;

● To allow for a smooth transition back into the child’s life upon the parent’s return from deployment;

● To prohibit the court’s consideration of a parent’s past deployment or possible future deployment exclusively in deciding what is in the child’s best interests for purposes of child custody.

Although the key provisions noted above are part of the ULC’s approved version of the UDPCVA, the final version as adopted by any state may vary considerably.

Addressing Military Divorce Issues in Tennessee

Memphis military divorce attorney Miles Mason, Sr., practices family law exclusively and is founder of the Miles Mason Family Law Group, PLC. Check out The Tennessee Divorce Client’s Handbook: What Every Divorcing Spouse Needs to Know, available on Amazon and Kindle. To schedule your confidential consultation, call us today at (901) 683-1850.