Military families face many varied circumstances when it comes to custody issues and parental rights. It can be difficult to know your rights when family law situations cross state and country borders, as can happen easily when one parent is in the military and deploys to various countries around the globe. With such a high military population, Texas families may want to examine a military family law case making national headlines.
The case involves a father who is serving in the U.S. Army and was stationed overseas when he met and married a Scottish woman. Together they lived in Germany until the father was deployed to Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan, his wife and new child moved back to her native country. The entire family then moved over to the United States together after his deployment was up.
The couple divorced within a year and the wife was deported. She took the child with her, claiming the child was a resident of Scotland. A federal judge initially agreed that the child should go back overseas. The father and his lawyers have successfully argued that even though she was initially allowed to take the child, he still has rights and the Supreme Court has jurisdiction pertaining to the case even though the child is not in the country.
This case proves how complicated family law and child custody issues can become when one parent is in the military and his or her spouse may be from overseas. However, deployments or military career issues should never impede parental rights regardless of where the other parent is from. For Texas military families facing any kind of family law issue in the courts, staying up to date on cases and current legal findings may help clarify cases.
Source: Yahoo! News, "Court: US custody case not moot with child abroad," Jesse J. Holland, Feb. 19, 2013
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