On April 27, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved, by voice vote, H.R. 4201, the Servicemember Family Protection Act.
Sponsored by Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH), the measure would require that if a judge decides a temporary child custody order based solely on deployment or anticipated deployment of a parent who is a servicemember, the judge must reinstate the custody order in effect prior to the parent’s deployment, unless doing so would not be in the best interests of the child.
The measure also would prohibit a parent’s deployment or anticipated deployment from being used against him or her when seeking to modify the child custody agreement. If a state provides a higher standard of protection to the deploying parent, the higher standard would be used when determining temporary custody of the child.