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April 13, 2005
Military Deployments and Family Care Plans
The Des Moines Register recently reported that Iowa, like many other states, has a record number of residents deployed on active military duty. This is having an enormous impact on families and the Iowa Court of Appeals recently addressed in great detail the legal significance of having a "Family Care Plan" in place to provide for the care of a soldier's family when the service member is deployed on active duty. The Family Care Plan and the protections provided by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act are described in the case of In re Marriage of Grantham, particularly the right to a stay of proceedings while deployed. The Court noted that the United State Supreme Court's 1943 ruling that the Act "is always to be liberally construed to protect those who have been obliged to drop their own affairs to take up the burdens of the nation" "rings as true today as it did then" during the height of World War II. The Court emphasized that "practically speaking, the Family Care Plan steps in for a soldier; it governs who will exercise the soldier's rights under the decree while the soldier is on active duty. Thus, Family Care Plans take no rights from the other party to the decree; they merely exercise the soldier's rights while on duty."
More generally, the Grantham decision is also significant as it is the first Iowa appellate decision that expressly holds "temporary custody orders are not statutorily authorized on petitions for [custody] modification."
Posted on April 13, 2005 in Custody, Federal Laws-Cases | Permalink
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Main
| Legislative Update: SF330 - Parenting Plans »
April 13, 2005
Military Deployments and Family Care Plans
The Des Moines Register recently reported that Iowa, like many other states, has a record number of residents deployed on active military duty. This is having an enormous impact on families and the Iowa Court of Appeals recently addressed in great detail the legal significance of having a "Family Care Plan" in place to provide for the care of a soldier's family when the service member is deployed on active duty. The Family Care Plan and the protections provided by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act are described in the case of In re Marriage of Grantham, particularly the right to a stay of proceedings while deployed. The Court noted that the United State Supreme Court's 1943 ruling that the Act "is always to be liberally construed to protect those who have been obliged to drop their own affairs to take up the burdens of the nation" "rings as true today as it did then" during the height of World War II. The Court emphasized that "practically speaking, the Family Care Plan steps in for a soldier; it governs who will exercise the soldier's rights under the decree while the soldier is on active duty. Thus, Family Care Plans take no rights from the other party to the decree; they merely exercise the soldier's rights while on duty."
More generally, the Grantham decision is also significant as it is the first Iowa appellate decision that expressly holds "temporary custody orders are not statutorily authorized on petitions for [custody] modification."
Posted on April 13, 2005 in Custody, Federal Laws-Cases | Permalink
TrackBack
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