H.R. 1898 — Introduced in House

I 113th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1898 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 8, 2013 Mr. Turner (for himself and Mr. Andrews) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To protect the child custody rights of deployed members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 1. Protection of child custody arrangements for parents who are members of the Armed Forces (a) Child custody protection Title II of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 521 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 208. Child custody protection (a) Restriction on temporary custody order If a court renders a temporary order for custodial responsibility for a child based solely on a deployment or anticipated deployment of a parent who is a servicemember, then the court shall require that, upon the return of the servicemember from deployment, the custody order that was in effect immediately preceding the temporary order shall be reinstated, unless the court finds that such a reinstatement is not in the best interest of the child, except that any such finding shall be subject to subsection (b). (b) Limitation on consideration of member’s deployment in determination of Child’s Best Interest If a motion or a petition is filed seeking a permanent order to modify the custody of the child of a servicemember, no court may consider the absence of the servicemember by reason of deployment, or the possibility of deployment, as the sole factor in determining the best interest of the child. (c) No Federal jurisdiction or right of action or removal Nothing in this section shall create a Federal right of action or otherwise give rise to Federal jurisdiction or create a right of removal. (d) Preemption In any case where State law applicable to a child custody proceeding involving a temporary order as contemplated in this section provides a higher standard of protection to the rights of the parent who is a deploying servicemember than the rights provided under this section with respect to such temporary order, the appropriate court shall apply the higher State standard. (e) Deployment Defined In this section, the term deployment means the movement or mobilization of a servicemember to a location for a period of longer than 60 days and not longer than 540 days pursuant to temporary or permanent official orders— (1) that are designated as unaccompanied; (2) for which dependent travel is not authorized; or (3) that otherwise do not permit the movement of family members to that location. . (b) Clerical amendment The table of contents in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to title II the following new item: 208. Child custody protection. .