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Are You a Military Parent Who Has Had Family Law Problems?

Are you a military parent who has had family law problems? Fathers & Families is submitting military parents’ cases to the Secretary of Defense—to be included, please fill out the form below.

Fathers & Families‘ legislative representative Michael Robinson worked with Mark Sullivan of the American Bar Association on federal military parent legislation. Partly due to their work, the National Defense Reauthorization Act (HR 2647), which was signed by President Obama in October, 2009, mandates that the Secretary of Defense produce a report on child custody litigation involving members of the Armed Forces, as well as international intrafamilial abductions of servicemembers’ children.

The Secretary of Defense will submit its report to the Armed Services Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives by the end of March. This problem affects both fathers and mothers who serve. If you are a military mother or father whose custody rights have been adversely affected due to your service, we want to make sure your story is included in the Secretary of Defense’s report. To submit your story for inclusion, please fill out our form below.

Best Wishes,
Glenn Sacks, MA
Executive Director,
Fathers & Families

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While you were deployed, do you feel the family courts adequately protected your child custody rights?

Prior to deployment, did you have a valid court order for child custody and/or parenting time?

If you had a court order, were you listed as the primary custodial parent or as the noncustodial parent?

Please summarize the court orders, if any, that were in effect if any before your deployment. Please include the number of children and their ages (e.g., 2 kids, ages 15 and 12).

Were your court orders included in your Family Care Plan?

Did your court orders include provisions regarding child custody and parenting timeshare issues in the event of a possible deployment?

Did the other parent sign and agree to your Family Care Plan?

Did you have an Attorney?

How much money have you had to spend in litigation costs so far?

If you did not have an attorney or could not afford one, did you seek help through your JAG legal services field office?

Was your JAG legal services field office able to help you? Please summarize your experience.

If you had an attorney, were they aware of any state laws applicable to military parents and deployment?

Did you feel your attorney was knowledgeable of the relevant laws and provided you with competent representation?

Did you have a spouse/stepparent or other extended family member such as a grandparent who could have exercised your court-ordered parenting time during your deployment?

If you had a spouse/stepparent/extended family member who could have cared for your children in your absence as a result of deployment, did your attorney ask the court for this and/or did the court consider this for the purposes of making a temporary order?

If you have a spouse or partner, are there additional children from this relationship? Please summarize any negative financial and emotional impact your child custody problems had on you, your current spouse/partner, and your children from both relationships.

Please include other comments and information you feel are relevant.