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ABA opposed to child custody protection bill

Two major veterans groups have endorsed legislation that would protect deployed service members from losing custody of children. But their support might not be enough to overcome strong objections from the American Bar Association.

Veterans of Foreign Wars, the nation’s largest organization for combat veterans, and the 160,000-member Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told a House subcommittee last week that they support HR 4469, which would prevent courts from permanently changing an existing child custody order while a service member is deployed and would require any temporary change in custody during a deployment to be reversed when the service member returns.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, also would prohibit courts from using deployment or the possibility of deployment against a service member when determining the best interests of a child.

Justin Brown of VFW said his organization supports the Turner bill. “The VFW strongly believes that a service member’s duty should not reflect negatively on themselves for the sake of judicial proceedings that deal with something as serious as a permanent custody decision of a child,” Brown said.

“Clearly, deployments cause great hardships on families and service members. However, in most instances, the decision to deploy is not the sevice members. It is our government’s. We should not allow our government to then punish service members in judicial custody disputes.”

Tim Embree of IAVA said his organization “wholeheartedly” endorses the bill “because we believe forcing a deployed parent to worry about child custody hearings while they are deployed in a war zone is cruel and damaging to our fighting force.”

Under normal circumstances, support from the two veterans groups might be a big boost for Turner’s bill, which has passed the House of Representatives four times in different formats but has not yet become law.

But in this case, the American Bar Association opposes the bill.

Patricia Apy, who heads ABA’s committee on military family law, called the bill “well-motivated but not well-considered” and cautioned that it is “unnecessary at best and harmful at worst.”

In the worst case, she warned, it would introduce the possibility of child custody lawsuits in federal courts, something currently handled under state law. It also could create unintended consequences that might leave some military parents unprotected — such as someone on an unaccompanied tour that is not part of a contingency operation or on a routine deployment such as aboard a Navy ship.

Apy said Congress should do nothing, at least for now, because many states are trying to resolve child custody issues on their own. Thirty states have passed some changes and a dozen are considering changes in child custody rules that apply to military parents, she said.

If action is warranted, she suggests that the services strengthen the family care plans required of all deploying personnel with children so that there is advance coordination between parents, which could prevent litigation.