An Act To Provide Greater Civil Relief Protection for Members of the Military
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 0859
Committee: Legal and Veterans Affairs
Sponsors: HOBBINS, BROWN, HOTHAM, PATRICK, PELLETIER-SIMPSON, SHERMAN, VALENTINO, PLOWMAN

Legislative Document 
No. 859 
H.P.61O 
House of Representatives, February 16,2005 
An Act To Provide Greater Civil Relief Protection for Members of 
the Military 
Submitted by the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management pursuant 
to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Legal and Veterans Affairs suggested and ordered plinted. 
Presented by Representati ve TUTTLE of Sanford. 
Cosponsored by Senator HOBBINS of York and 
!rJ~ 
/J7.1Jlac~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: BROWN of South Berwick, HOTHAM of Dixfield, PATRICK of Rumford, 
PELLETIER-SIMPSON of Auburn, SHERMAN of Hodgdon, VALENTINO of Saco, Senator: 
PLOWMAN of Penobscot. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 18·A MRSA §2·506, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 540, §l, 
is amended to read: 
§2-506. Choice of law as to execution 
A written will is valid if executed in compliance with 
section 2-502 or 2-503 or if its execution complies with the law 
at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed, 
or of the law of the place where at the time of execution or at 
the time of death the testator is domiciled, has a place of abode 
or is a national or if executed in compliance with 10 United 
States Code. Section 1044d. 
Sec.2. 18·A MRSA §5·508, sub.§(i) is enacted to read: 
(i) 
Notwithstanding subsections (c) and (d), any military 
power of attorney executed in accordance with 10 United States 
Code, Section 1044b is valid in this State. 
Sec.3. 18·A MRSA §5·818 is enacted to read: 
§5-8l8. 
Military advanced medical directives 
A military advanced medical directive executed in accordance 
with 10 United States Code, Section 1044c is valid in this State. 
Sec. 4. 37·B MRSA §343 is enacted to read: 
§343. 
Parental rights and responsibilities; parent on active duty 
1. 
Departure 
under military orders. 
A court 
may 
not 
consider departure from the family residence or absence from the 
child or children as an adverse factor in determining parental 
rights and responsibilities with respect to a minor child when 
the departing parent is a member of the National Guard or the 
Reserves of the United States Armed Forces under an order to 
active duty for a period of more than 30 days and whose absence 
is due to compliance with military orders. 
2. 
Change of residence of child prohibited when parent 
under military orders. 
A court may not order a change of the 
primary physical residence of a child when one of the child's 
parents is a member of the National Guard or the Reserves of the 
United States Armed Forces under an order to active duty for a 
period of more than 30 days and whose absence from the State is 
due to compliance with military orders. 
Page l-LR0622(l) 
3. 
Application. 
This section applies only if the service 
of the member referred to in subsection 1 or subsection 2 is in 
support of: 
A. 
An operational mission for which members of the reserve 
components have been ordered to active duty without their 
consent: or 
B. 
Forces activated during a period of war declared by 
Congress or a period of national emergency declared by the 
President or Congress. 
Sec. 5. 37·B MRSA §389, as repealed and replaced by PL 2003, 
c. 404, §6, is repealed. 
Sec. 6. 37·B MRSA §389.A is enacted to read: 
§389-A. Service members' civil relief 
1. 
ShQI~t.i.t~Et. __ 
TIlis_S5l~tio~ may be known and cited as 
"the Service Members' Civil Relief Act. " 
2. 
Definitions. 
As 
used 
in this 
section, 
unless 
the 
context 
otherwise 
indicates, 
the 
following 
terms 
have 
the 
following meanings. 
A. 
"Court" means any administrative agency, civil court or 
venue of a proceeding involving a case management officer. 
B. 
"ServJ . .Q..e __ meml;>~~eQ.ns 
a 
member 
of 
the 
uniforITl.e...Q 
services as that term is de.fined in 10 United States Code, 
Section 101(a)(S) or a member of the state military forces 
as that term is described in section 102, on active state 
service as that term is defined in section 101-A. 
3. 
Stay of proceedi:qg. 
Any action or proceeding in any 
court in which a service member is involved, either as plaintiff, 
defendant or attorney, if the member is a member of the National 
Guard or the Reserves of the United States Armed Forces, during 
.tehe period of any military service or within 60 days after any 
military service, 
at the discretion of the court, 
or by the 
member's own motion or motion of the court, may be stayed at any 
stage of the proceeding unless, in the opinion of the court, the 
ability of 
t~lainti.ff to prose.cute the action, the defendant 
to conduct the defendant's defense or the attorney to represent 
either party is not materially affected by reason of the member's 
military service. 
4. 
Appear~ce. 
An QE.Plication for a stay of a court or 
administrative proceeding pursuant to the Soldiers' and Sailors' 
Civil Relief Act of 1940, 50. United States Code, as amende~ 
this section does not constitute an appearance for any purpose. 
5. 
Electronic means; testimony and evidence. 
Upon motion 
of a service member who 
i~1?g.rty in a civil case, the court 
shall allow the service member to present testimony and evidence 
by electronic means 
when the military duties of the service 
member have a material effect on the service member's ability to 
appear in person at a regularly scheduled hearing, unless good 
cause is shown. 
For purposes of this subsection, 
"electronic 
means" 
includes, 
but 
is 
not 
limited 
to, 
telephone, 
video 
teleconference and the Internet. 
6. 
Exp.edited hearing. 
Upon motion of a service member whQ 
is a party in a civil case, the court shall hold an expedited 
hearing when the military duties of the service member have a 
material effect on the service member's ability to aQQear in 
person at a regularly scheduled hearing, unless good cause is 
shown. 
7. 
Transfer of custody and visitation. 
Upon motion of a 
service member, 
or 
upon 
the court's 
own 
motion, 
in 
a 
case 
involving 
custody or visitation, 
the 
court shall 
allow 
the 
visitation rights of the service member to be exercised by a 
~lative of the service member who has a significant connection 
with the child or children when the military duties of the 
service member have 
a material effect on the ability of the 
service member to exercise those rights, unless good cause is 
shown. 
SUMMARY 
The bill provides that courts may not consider a military 
member's departure from the family residence or absence from the 
child or children as an adverse factor in determining parental 
rights and responsibilities if the military member's absence is 
due to military mobilization. 
The bill strengthens existing state civil relief protections 
for 
mobilized military members 
by 
allowing 
them 
to 
testify 
electronically, 
by 
requiring 
that 
their 
cases 
be 
held 
expedi tiously and by allowing a service member to transfer the 
custody and visitation rights of the member's child to one of the 
member's relatives if the military member is mobilized. 
The bill grants state recognition to wills, health care 
directives and powers of attorney federal laws pertaining to the 
military irrespective of specific state requirements.