```

[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1658 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1658

To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide protection for 
  child custody arrangements for parents who are members of the Armed 
         Forces deployed in support of a contingency operation.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 19, 2007

   Mr. Gregg introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide protection for 
  child custody arrangements for parents who are members of the Armed 
         Forces deployed in support of a contingency operation.

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

SECTION 1. PROTECTION OF CHILD CUSTODY ARRANGEMENTS FOR PARENTS WHO ARE 
              MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES DEPLOYED IN SUPPORT OF A 
              CONTINGENCY OPERATION.

    (a) Child Custody Protection.--Title II of the Servicemembers Civil 
Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 521 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section:

``SEC. 208. CHILD CUSTODY PROTECTION.

    ``(a) Restriction on Change of Custody.--If a motion for change of 
custody of a child of a servicemember is filed while the servicemember 
is deployed in support of a contingency operation, no court may enter 
an order modifying or amending any previous judgment or order, or issue 
a new order, that changes the custody arrangement for that child that 
existed as of the date of the deployment of the servicemember, except 
that a court may enter a temporary custody order if there is clear and 
convincing evidence that it is in the best interest of the child.
    ``(b) Completion of Deployment.--In any preceding covered under 
subsection (a), a court shall require that, upon the return of the 
servicemember from deployment in support of a contingency operation, 
the custody order that was in effect immediately preceding the date of 
the deployment of the servicemember is reinstated.
    ``(c) Exclusion of Military Service From Determination of Child's 
Best Interest.--If a motion for the change of custody of the child of a 
servicemember who was deployed in support of a contingency operation is 
filed after the end of the deployment, no court may consider the 
absence of the servicemember by reason of that deployment in 
determining the best interest of the child.
    ``(d) Contingency Operation Defined.--In this section, the term 
`contingency operation' has the meaning given that term in section 
101(a)(13) of title 10, United States Code, except that the term may 
include such other deployments as the Secretary may prescribe.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to title 
II the following new item:

``208. Child custody protection.''.
                                 <all>
```