Co-parenting has become an increasingly popular option for divorcing parents. Of course, this means more instances will pop up where an ex-couple still want to co-parent even with one in an unusual situation.
This includes situations where one parent serves in the military or other armed forces.
Acts that support military co-parenting
The National Conference of State Legislatures discusses the increasing frequency with which couples divorce when one serves in the armed forces. The biggest concern with these cases involves the possibility of deployment or relocation, which may happen at any time and disrupt a current visitation schedule.
Some branches of the armed forces do their best to keep a divorced parent stationed close to their co-parent and child, but of course, this is not always possible. In these cases, acts like the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act (UDPCVA) make things much easier by protecting a military parent from losing contact with a child while deployed.
Relying on rights protections
The UDPCVA makes it so a parent’s deployment cannot get used as the sole basis for determining a child’s best interest. In other words, someone cannot use their co-parent’s deployment as a reason to strip them of their parental rights.
Other acts allow for provisions that let a co-parenting duo make out-of-court temporary visitation changes and custody agreements. This means they do not have to go through an entire court case to change their arrangements to suit a sudden deployment or relocation.
Acts like the UDPCVA and others provide necessary protection and flexibility to military parents. It is just one way that divorce has gotten easier for all sorts of couples in recent years.
