Military Family Law Issues

Mississippi Code Ann. 93-5-34, was passed for the purpose of swiftly and efficiently resolving matters involving custody and visitation when a parent is deployed and to facilitate continued communication between parents and their minor children when a parent is deployed. This statute protects deployed service members in the following ways:

(1) if the service member has sole or joint physical custody of a child, by limiting the duration of any temporary custody orders to no longer than ten (10) days after the deployed parent returns; by prohibiting the use of the service member’s deployment as a factor to be used in any custody modification action; and, by requiring that the non-deployed parent make the child available to the service member for telephonic, webcam, and email contact with the child during deployment;

(2) if the service member has visitation rights with the child and is deployed, by allowing a court to delegate the service member’s visitation rights to a family member with a close and substantial relationship to the minor child during the duration of the service member’s absence;

(3) by allowing service members who receive deployment orders an opportunity to an expedited hearing in custody and visitation matters if certain conditions are met; and,

(4) by allowing the service member on deployment to present testimony and evidence by affidavit or electronic means in custody and visitation cases if certain conditions are met.

Issues of family law involving the military has its own set for rules in many areas be it retirement or the areas described above.  They are not necessarily more difficult, but certainly not the same as an everyday case either.