No Breaks for Servicemen

Over the weekend this site received the story a of recently home from Iraq soldier. While he was deployed his wife moved out of state. You can see his post here under comments.

I don't have any good answers for this - it is truly a deplorable act to try to take advantage of the fact that your spouse is out of the country FIGHTING A WAR to get the upper hand in your divorce. As always, my first advice would be to find a good attorney and retain them. Martindale.com can be a good starting point or contact your local chapter of the ABA and ask for a lawyer referral. In my country, if you are referred from the ABA the attorney will give you a free introductory (usually around 30 mins) session. Take advantage of these referrals to find an attorney you are truly comfortable with without having to pay just to meet them.

For currently deployed members of the military, the Servicemember's Civil Relief Act provides some relief from civil proceedings. Info here and here.

Here is a *similar* story out of Pittsburgh - except in this case the father is/was still deployed.

This case isn't the same scenario - the father lost custody prior to his deployment and because of his deployment. However, as I said in the post about deployed moms, I do think this is appropriate. Obviously the deployed soldier cannot act as primary custodial parent while deployed, the proper alternative (unless there are some mitigating circumstances that prevent this from being a safe alternative for the child) should be the other parent.

The Marines offer a support website: http://www.mccsonesource.com/ for families of deployed servicemembers.

This is an opinion article: Separated dads miss so much at Christmas