Act No. 69

(H.533)

Domestic relations; military parents' rights

This act establishes court procedures to address parental rights and responsibilities and parent-child contact when a military parent is deployed for service unaccompanied by family members. A military parent who is planning deployment or his or her co-parent may seek a temporary order from the family court which establishes conditions for the time of deployment and a transition schedule for when the deploying parent returns, after which time the original orders would resume effect.

The court may assign temporarily the deploying parent's parent-child contact rights to another family member or person with whom the child has a significant relationship if it is in the child's best interests. Orders may make accommodations for the deploying parent to participate in court proceedings via electronic means and may require the nondeploying parent to make the child reasonably available to the deploying parent when the deploying parent has leave and to facilitate opportunities for communication with the deploying parent while he or she is deployed.

Date Signed by the Governor:  March 3, 2010

Effective Date:  On passage (March 3, 2010, the date on which the governor signed the bill)