On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Military Divorce on Tuesday, October 22, 2013.
Divorce is complicated and hard on anyone. However, those who are in the military can wind up facing unique challenges that civilians simply will not face during a divorce. Of course though, this being said, there are certain protections offered to those in the military to deal with these issues.
For example, let’s say a father is fighting for custody of his children. In his heart, he knows his children would be better off living with him. However, the mother of the children is dead set on dragging the custody battle out in court.
During this time though, the father — who is in the military — is deployed. He knows he is going to miss one of the proceedings, but cannot come back from deployment for the proceeding. He worries without being able to plead his case, the mother will end up being awarded custody.
This is where the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act can come into play. This act, which used to be known as the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act, was specifically enacted to protect the rights of active military members who are deployed. Provisions of this act can end up being used to protect a military member who is going through a divorce and will miss court proceedings due to deployment.
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act can put a stay on a legal proceeding when the deployed spouse is unable to make it to the proceedings. With this protection, the legal proceedings can be stayed or postponed until the military member returns from deployment.
Of course though, this is just one example of how military divorce can be different than civilian divorce and just one example of the protections offered to service members.
To learn more about protecting the right of service members, visit our Belleville military divorce page.
