How military service affects custody determinations

 Posted on July 20,2021 in Child Custody

There are many people living in Texas who are in the military. They provide a very valuable and honorable service to this country. In providing this service they make many sacrifices in their personal lives. They may be required to move to different bases in very different locations. They can also be deployed to other countries with relatively little notice. They also need to perform very difficult tasks under very difficult circumstances while they are deployed.

While they are deployed they are not able to bring their families with them and are forced to spend large amounts of time apart from family and loved ones. This can be very difficult for the servicemember and their family. It can also create a difficult situation for parents who are no longer with the other parent and have or need to have custody orders dictating when they will have their children in their care. These decisions are made based on the best interests of the children.

Factors military parents need to consider for custody

The fact that a parent is in the military does not mean that it is not in children’s best interest to be in their care, but due to the unique circumstances mentioned above, military parents need to consider those factors when developing parenting plans and custody arrangements. Parents will need to determine who will care for the children while they are gone. What will happen when they return from deployment, how they will communicate with the children during deployment and other factors.

Custody arrangements should also have contingencies if the military parent is relocated to a different base, which can last longer than even a deployment. Depending on the distance of the new base from the old one, parents will need to consider the need to modify the visitation schedule to allow contact that does not completely disrupt the children’s lives.

Life in the military is much different than those in Texas who are not in the military. It is difficult to plan for life in the same way that non-military people do. This includes how they make custody arrangements for their children. These can be very complicated and difficult matters. Determining what is in the children’s best interest is very fact-specific and this is especially true for military parents. Experienced attorneys understand these matters and may be able to guide one through the process.