I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1898 

To protect the child custody rights of deployed members of the Armed 

Forces, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 8, 2013 

Mr. TURNER (for himself and Mr. ANDREWS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To protect the child custody rights of deployed members 

of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. PROTECTION OF CHILD CUSTODY ARRANGE4 MENTS FOR PARENTS WHO ARE MEMBERS OF 

5 THE ARMED FORCES. 

6 (a) CHILD CUSTODY PROTECTION.—Title II of the 

7 Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 521 et 

8 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

9 section: 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1898 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 208. CHILD CUSTODY PROTECTION. 

2 ‘‘(a) RESTRICTION ON TEMPORARY CUSTODY

3 ORDER.—If a court renders a temporary order for custo4 dial responsibility for a child based solely on a deployment 

5 or anticipated deployment of a parent who is a service6 member, then the court shall require that, upon the return 

7 of the servicemember from deployment, the custody order 

8 that was in effect immediately preceding the temporary 

9 order shall be reinstated, unless the court finds that such 

10 a reinstatement is not in the best interest of the child, 

11 except that any such finding shall be subject to subsection 

12 (b). 

13 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON CONSIDERATION OF MEMBER’S

14 DEPLOYMENT IN DETERMINATION OF CHILD’S BEST IN15 TEREST.—If a motion or a petition is filed seeking a per16 manent order to modify the custody of the child of a serv17 icemember, no court may consider the absence of the serv18 icemember by reason of deployment, or the possibility of 

19 deployment, as the sole factor in determining the best in20 terest of the child. 

21 ‘‘(c) NO FEDERAL JURISDICTION OR RIGHT OF AC22 TION OR REMOVAL.—Nothing in this section shall create 

23 a Federal right of action or otherwise give rise to Federal 

24 jurisdiction or create a right of removal. 

25 ‘‘(d) PREEMPTION.—In any case where State law ap26 plicable to a child custody proceeding involving a temVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 May 11, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1898.IH H1898

jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1898 IH

1 porary order as contemplated in this section provides a 

2 higher standard of protection to the rights of the parent 

3 who is a deploying servicemember than the rights provided 

4 under this section with respect to such temporary order, 

5 the appropriate court shall apply the higher State stand6 ard. 

7 ‘‘(e) DEPLOYMENT DEFINED.—In this section, the 

8 term ‘deployment’ means the movement or mobilization of 

9 a servicemember to a location for a period of longer than 

10 60 days and not longer than 540 days pursuant to tem11 porary or permanent official orders— 

12 ‘‘(1) that are designated as unaccompanied; 

13 ‘‘(2) for which dependent travel is not author14 ized; or 

15 ‘‘(3) that otherwise do not permit the move16 ment of family members to that location.’’. 

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

18 in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by adding at the 

19 end of the items relating to title II the following new item: 

‘‘208. Child custody protection.’’. 

Æ 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS