I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4469 
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide for protection 
of child custody arrangements for parents who are members of the 
Armed Forces deployed in support of a contingency operation. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 19, 2010 
Mr. TURNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide 
for protection of child custody arrangements for parents 
who are members of the Armed Forces deployed in sup-
port of a contingency operation. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. PROTECTION OF CHILD CUSTODY ARRANGE-
MENTS 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 
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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 arrange-
ment for that child that existed as of the date of the de-
ployment of the servicemember, except that a court may 
enter a temporary custody order if the court finds that 
it is in the best interest of the child. 
‘‘(b) COMPLETION OF DEPLOYMENT.—In any pre-
ceding covered under subsection (a), a court shall require 
that, upon the return of the servicemember from deploy-
ment 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, un-
less the court finds that such a reinstatement is not in 
the best interest of the child, except that any such finding 
shall be subject to subsection (c). 
‘‘(c) EXCLUSION OF MILITARY SERVICE FROM DE-
TERMINATION OF CHILD’S BEST INTEREST.—If a motion 
for the change of custody of the child of a servicemember 
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is filed, no court may consider the absence of the service-
member by reason of deployment, or possibility of deploy-
ment, in determining the best interest of the child. 
‘‘(d) NO FEDERAL RIGHT OF ACTION.—Nothing in 
this section shall create a Federal right of action. 
‘‘(e) PREEMPTION.—In any case where State or Fed-
eral law applicable to a child custody proceeding under 
State or Federal law provides a higher standard of protec-
tion to the rights of the parent who is a servicemember 
than the rights provided under this section, the State or 
Federal court shall apply the State or Federal standard. 
‘‘(f) 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.’’. 
Æ 
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