The opinion of the court was delivered by
This сase presents a question of first impression in this State. In particular, must a parent seeking modification of a court order regarding custody of her child bear the threshold burden of establishing “changed circumstances that affect the welfare of the child[,]” Hand v. Hand, 391 N.J.Super. 102, 105,
We therefore reverse the order under review to the extent that it dismissed defendant’s motion without prejudice, and remand the matter to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
I.
Plaintiff and defendant were married on January 11, 1997, and divorced on December 11, 2001. Their union produced a son, Billy, who was born in 1997.
Plaintiff subsequently agreed to vacate defendant’s child support obligations; in January 2008, however, he moved to reinstate them and sought reduction of defendant’s parenting time as provided by the 2002 order. He also asked the court to prohibit “any and all discussions with the minor ... pertaining to a change in primary residence.”
Defendant opposed the motion and cross-moved seeking modification of the 2002 order herself. In general, she alleged that plaintiff had failed to comply with provisions that required counseling sessions for the entire family; that plaintiff was not sharing parenting information with her; and that plaintiff had adopted a “military approach to childrearing,” which included corporal punishment. As a result, she claimed Billy had become fearful and anxious. Defendant also claimed that her son’s medical needs were neglected. She sought a temporary transfer of custody while further information was gathered through a risk assessment and psychological evaluation of her son.
The motion judge entered an order on February 1, 2008 that thoroughly addressed all the issues presented by both sides. He refused to reduce defendant’s parenting time because plaintiff “ha[d] not pointed to any change in circumstances that would warrant a change____” He ordered both parties not to “discuss the litigation with the child.”
The CNA was completed on August 28, 2008 by Robert B. Haynes, Ph.D. Haynes interviewed plaintiff, who was employed by the Army, had now re-married for a third time, and lived in Burlington County with his new wife, Billy, and two stepsons. Plaintiff reported no major problems with Billy’s health, no behavioral problems, and no educational problems, with the exception of Billy’s poor grades in mathematics, his son’s “most troubling subject.” Billy had been in the same school system since kindergarten, and plaintiff arranged for tutoring and enrollment in “an early intervention program.... ” Plaintiff denied any excessive discipline or corporal punishment directed toward his son.
Haynes noted that routinely Billy would be alone when he returned home from school, but plаintiff reported that someone would arrive shortly thereafter. On one occasion, plaintiff recounted that the Division of Youth and Family Services “was contacted regarding [Billy] being left alone after school.” The matter was investigated, and “dropped without incident.”
Haynes interviewed defendant. At that time, she resided in a two-family home in Bergen County, approximately two hours from plaintiff, with her mother, brother and six-year old son from another relationship. She too reported that Billy suffered from no significant behavioral or health problems, but claimed he was a
Lastly, Haynes interviewed Billy, who told him that his parents’ divorce “ha[d] been tough on him.” He liked his father’s new wife who “encourage[d]” him to be artistically creative, and “stated that both parents ha[d] qualities that hе like[d].” The child genuinely appreciated both of his parents. Nonetheless, Haynes opined that Billy “seemed sad,” and expressed a desire to “ ‘be more popular’ ” during the upcoming school year.
Haynes recommended that Billy receive counseling, and he urged the parties to “open[ ] up ... for appropriate, child-focused communication ... for [Billy’s] sake.” Expressing concern for Billy’s “grades in sehool[,]” Haynes believed the early intervention program and private tutoring were “crucial for [Billy’s] success.” He noted that it was “more difficult to change school systems after the school year” began. Haynes made no other specific recommendations, finding that “both parents love their son and desire[d] to have him reside with them ____” He believed that “neither parent [wa]s trying to alienate their son from the other.”
In January 2009, defendant sought, by order to show cause, the immediate transfer of custody because of plaintiffs impending deployment as a military reservist, initially out of state, but thereafter, overseas.
Defendant immediately moved to modify custody and parenting time, and also sought child support if she was awarded custody of Billy. Noting that “[t]here [wa]s not much more to say ... since last February,” i.e., the denial of her prior cross-motion, defendant characterized the reason for her current application as “simple.” She certified that plaintiff had recently informed her that he was about to be “deployed in Iraq for a year[,]” that he was leaving at the end of January, and that “he expected his wife to care for [Billy] and ... have primary residential custody.” Defendant claimed Billy “should ... live with [her] in the absence of his father.”
Defendant reiterated her ability to care for Billy. She noted that plaintiffs wife, who was also in the military, sometimes had to leave home during the work week, resulting in all three children being left in the care of plaintiffs parents. Defendant argued that she provided “the preferred living arrangement for [Billy] in his father’s absence[,]” and suggested that upon plaintiffs return from service, the parties “c[ould] re-evaluate the child’s needs____”
Defendant further claimed that if Billy did not live with her during plaintiffs absence, “it would negatively impact him emotionally,” though she provided no details or support for that conclusion. She stated that she was “open to reasonable visitation arrangements” so her son could “continue to see his step-family and his paternal family.” In sum, defendant sought “full residential custody of [Billy]” while plaintiff was deployed overseas, along with reasonable child support.
In a reply certification, defendant alleged that plaintiffs wife “strongly believe[d] that [Billy] should move in” with defendant while plaintiff was deployed. Defendant also alleged that plaintiffs wife told her that the couple was experiencing “severe marital problems,” and that plaintiffs parents were behind the opposition to any change in custody. She denied the allegations plaintiff made about the condition of her home and her care of Billy.
The same judge considered oral argument on the motion on February 13, 2009, and entered his order, along with a comprehensive written opinion, the same day. After reviewing the pаrties’ contentions, he first noted that plaintiff was on active military duty, and thus was entitled to the protections afforded by N.J.S.A. 38:23C-4. The judge noted, however, that while that statute provided that “no judgment or final order” shall be entered against a litigant while on active military duty, he did not intend to enter a final order in the matter.
The judge also found that defendant did not view the change in custody request as “ ‘temporary,’ ” but rather suggested that the issue should be revisited when plaintiff returned from active duty. He noted that Billy was not residing with “a distant family member or friend” while his father was away, but rather would be in an “intact family unit” of which he had been a part since 2002.
In conclusion, the judge found that there was “no competent evidence produced by defendant that the child w[ould] not be well-cared for by plaintiffs spouse. There [wa]s no evidence that the child’s best interests w[ould] be served ... by an abrupt change of custody.” The judge further rejected defendant’s assertion that “a child should always be with a biological parent[J” noting that “ ‘rule’ ” could not be applied where a child was in the middle of the school year in a stable home. He denied defendant’s motion for an immediate change of custody “without prejudice.”
However, the judge decided to increase defendant’s parenting time to every weekend and all school holidays. He increased defendant’s summer parenting time, ordering Billy to reside with her all summer, except for two weekends each month. The judge
II.
Defendant contends that it was “an error of law and an abuse of discretion for” the judge to refuse to modify the 2002 order and award her residential custody of Billy while plaintiff was deployed. Ancillary to this core argument, she contends that the judge speculated regarding the impact plaintiffs deployment would have upon Billy instead of relying upon expert opinion; improperly granted a preference to a third-party instead of the child’s biological mother; and improperly designated the child’s stepmother as the primary caregiver by proxy for plaintiff.
Plaintiff contends that defendant failed to establish a prima facie case for modification of the 2002 order, and that the judge’s decision in this regal’d is entitled to our significant deference.
A.
We begin by stating some first principles that guide our review. The touchstone for all custody determinations has always been “the best interest[s] of the child.” Kinsella v. Kinsella, 150 N.J. 276, 317,
In making an award of custody, the court shall consider but not be limited to the following factors: the parents’ ability to agree, communicate and cooperate in matters relating to the child; the parents’ willingness to accept custody and any history of unwillingness to allow parenting time not based on substantiated abuse; the interaction and relationship of the child with its parents and siblings; the history of domestic violence, if any; the safety of the child and the safety of either*119 parent from physical abuse by the other parent; the preference of the child when of sufficient age and cаpacity to reason so as to form an intelligent decision; the needs of the child; the stability of the home environment offered; the qualify and continuity of the child’s education; the fitness of the parents; the geographical proximity of the parents’ homes; the extent and quality of the time spent with the child prior to or subsequent to the separation; the parents’ employment responsibilities; and the age and number of the children.
[Ibid.]
Absent exigent circumstances, changes in custody should not be ordered without a full plenary hearing. R. 5:8-6; Entress v. Entress, 376 N.J.Super. 125, 133,
There exists, however, an equally weighty set of first principles that defendant is quick to bring to our attention. Our courts have recognized that “a legal parent has a fundamental right to the care, custody and nurturance of his or her child.” V.C. v. M.J.B., 163 N.J. 200, 218,
We now consider these basic principles and their application to the facts of this case.
B.
Defendant’s argument may be distilled to an essential point. In seeking modification of the 2002 order, she need not demonstrate a change of circumstances that affect Billy’s welfare, because, as between herself and plaintiffs current wife, defendant is presumed to be entitled to custody of her son. Since plaintiff did not rebut this presumption by demonstrating defendant was unfit, or that “exceptional circumstances” existed, the judge erred in not awarding her immediate residential custody of Billy while plaintiff was deployed on active military duty.
Plaintiffs retort is that the dispute is not between defendant and a third-party, but, rather between two natural parents. Since he is the PPR, defendant bore the burden of demonstrating changed circumstances that affected Billy’s welfare such that modification was warranted. Plaintiff contends defendant failed to do this, and the judge correctly determined not to alter the status quo.
We recognize that defendant’s argument is intuitively appealing. As a fit parent who has exercised significant and regular parenting
In Watkins, supra, the Court was called upon to decide thе appropriate standard to apply in a custody dispute between a child’s father, the plaintiff, and her maternal grandparents, the defendants. 163 N.J. at 237,
In such disputes, the Court enunciated the analytic framework as follows:
*122 [I]t is the relationship of the child to the person seeking custody that determines the standard to be used in deciding the custody dispute. When the dispute is betwеen two fit parents, the best interest of the child standard controls because both parents are presumed to be equally entitled to custody.
The child’s best interest rebuts the presumption in favor of one of the fit parents. But, when the dispute is between a fit parent and a third party, only the fit parent is presumed to be entitled to custody. In that context, the child’s welfare is protected because the presumption in favor of the fit parent is rebuttable. Once the presumption in favor of a fit parent is rebutted ..., the child’s best interest is advanced by not awarding custody to the parent. Viewed in that context, in custody determinations between a fit parent and a third party, ... the child’s best interests become a factor only after the parental termination standard has been met, rather than the determinative standard itself.
[Id. at 253,748 A.2d 558 .]
The Court announced this paradigm, however, in a factual context far different from the one presented here. In Watkins, the custodial parent had died. Therefore, an ultimate decision had to be made as between third-parties with de facto custody who were now seeking court approval, and a natural parent opposing their attempts and seeking custody himself.
In this ease, plaintiffs current wife, who defendant argues is the analogous third-party in the Watkins framework, is not seeking custody of Billy. In our view, this distinction is critical. Unlike the father in Watkins who faced the denial of custody and a significant curtailment of his parental rights, defendant in this case faces no such consequences. Indeed, she continues to share legal custody of Billy with plaintiff, and the judge significantly increased her parenting time.
There are other reasons why the parental presumption ought not to apply when the PPR is facing temporary military deployment. In Watkins, the custodial parent’s death created an unalterable set of circumstances. The child in that case could never be reunited with the parent who previously had exercised primary, аlbeit short-lived, custody. That is clearly not the ease here. Instead, plaintiff will hopefully return from his deployment in good health and in a relatively short, finite period of time, after which he can resume his relationship with Billy as before.
In this case, however, the 2002 order defined the custodial relationship between Billy’s parents, and it resulted from both parties submitting their initial dispute to the jurisdiction of the Family Part for resolution. As we have noted, “[a] judgment, whether reached by consent or adjudication, embodies a best interests determination.” Todd, supra, 268 N.J.Super. at 398,
[W]hen ... both parents have a fundamental right to the care and nurturing of their children and neither has a preeminent right over the other, their contest stands on different footing. It is not a third party or the State that seeks to intrude into the protected sphere of family autonomy. Rather, by submitting their dispute to the court, it is the parties themselves who essentially seek the impairment of each other’s rights. In that circumstance, the State is thrust into the role of “mediator by necessity.”
Indeed, by seeking a divorce and invoking the jurisdiction of the Family Part, each party assented to the possibility that there will be some curtailment of what would otherwise be the ordinary rights concomitant to parenthood. For example, a party may be denied custody. Visitation may be circumscribed. Vacations may be shared or lost. One parent may be granted thе right to move away with the child. All such orders impair to some extent one of the parties’ parental rights, and the party participants are deemed to have consented to the possibility of such impairment when they submit, their disagreement to a court.. .
In such cases, the sole benchmark is the best interests of the child. [Sacharow v. Sacharow, 177 N.J. 62, 79-80,826 A.2d 710 (2003) (citations omitted).]
We might assume that the difficult questions posed by this appeal are being raised in courtrooms throughout the United States, and that decisional law from our sister jurisdictions could provide us with guidance. However, no reported decision was
In one case, a father facing a second deployment to Iraq as an Air Force reservist sought modification of the existing parеnting plan previously incorporated in the parties’ divorce decree. In re Marriage of DePalma,
The mother appealed. Among other things, she argued “that the trial court erred in holding that [the] father could choose to delegate his parenting time to [the] stepmother while he is deployed or otherwise unavailable for extended periods of time[,]” and “that the court failed to accord her the presumptions to which she was entitled as the children’s natural mother .... ” Ibid. The appellate court first noted that “[i]n determining a custodial dispute between a parent and a nonparent, Colorado courts recognize a presumption that a biological parent has a first and prior right to the custody of his or her child.” Id. at 832 (citation omitted). However, the court noted that “[b]ecause the dispute
A case that provides less analysis of the issue is Lebo v. Lebo,
On appeal, the mother argued that she should have “legal custody of the minor child ... since the [stepmother] could not have custody in preference to her____” Ibid. The Louisiana Court of Appeals rejected this argument, noting that as “domiciliary parent,” the father had “the authority to make all decisions affecting the child unless otherwise provided in a custody implementation order.” Ibid. The court continued that “a domiciliary parent’s major decisions are presumed to be in the child’s best interest, subject to review by the court upon motion of the other parent.” Ibid, (citation omitted). Thus, “[the father] was acting within his authority in leaving his child in the care of his current wife.” Ibid.
Similarly, the Supreme Court of Kansas rejected application of the parental presumption to a custody dispute between a father, who was the custodial parent and about to be deployed to Korea for one year, and the children’s mother, also in the military but soon to retire. In re Marriage of Rayman, 273 Kan. 996,
We are firmly convinced that the distinctions we have raised between the facts presented in Watkins and those presented here, and the limited jurisprudence from our sistеr states, require us to reject defendant’s argument that the parental presumption applies to this dispute such that she was entitled to immediate residential custody of Billy solely because of plaintiffs military deployment.
C.
Throughout the proceedings below, defendant’s consistent position was that no hearing was required because she was presumptively entitled to residential custody of Billy. Thus, her motion never sought an investigation by the Family Division, Rule 5:8-1, an investigation by a neutral expert appointed by the court, Rule 5:3-3(e), additional discovery, or a plenary hearing. She simply sought an immediate change of residential custody based upon the parental presumption. To the extent defendant has not requested alternative relief from us, we could, perhaps, end our consideration of the issues presented at this point and affirm the motion judge’s order.
However, we conclude that “our parens patriae responsibility to protect the welfare of children,” Hand, supra, 391 N.J.Super. at 104,
The issue, however, is two-fold and sequential. Defendant must first make “a prima facie showing ... that a genuine issue of faсt exists bearing upon a critical question such as the best interests of
A plenary hearing must be conducted where “the custody of children is a genuine and substantial issue____” R. 5:8-6. “[WJhen the submissions show there is a genuine and substantial factual dispute regarding the welfare of the children,” the “plenary hearing is necessary to resolve the factual dispute.” Hand, supra, 391 N.J.Super. at 105,
We agree that but for plaintiffs impending deployment, defendant’s conelusory certifications would have been insufficient to warrant a plenary hearing. She herself admitted that little had changed since the February 2008 order that denied her prior request for modification of the 2002 order. However, we also conclude that defendant met her burden of demonstrating a prima facie change of circumstances that affected Billy’s welfare based solely upon plaintiffs impending deployment. As a result, she was entitled to a plenary hearing to resolve any disputes of material fact remaining after the custody evaluation ordered by the judge was completed.
We are hard-pressed to see how defendant did not, in the first instance, establish that a significant change of circumstances in Billy’s life was about to occur because of that plaintiff will be
Plaintiffs pending deployment for an entire year, in itself, was a circumstance of such magnitude, and likely to affect Billy’s welfare, that defendant need not have awaited the passage of time and the consequences of plaintiffs absence vis-a-vis their son, to seek modification.
Undoubtedly, the judge agreed this was his obligation because he ordered a custody evaluation and denied defendant’s motion without prejudice. Clearly, he viewed his decision as a temporary one based primarily upon the likely disruption caused to Billy if he was required to relocate in the middle of his school year.
We cannot discern why the judge chose to deny the motion without prejudice rather than setting a date for a future hearing after receipt of the custody evaluation. Denying the motion triggered defendant’s right to appeal. In our view, this short-circuited not only the process that the judge anticipated would occur—defendant advised at oral argument no custоdy evaluation had taken place—but also the evaluative process that is required in these circumstances. As a result, we must reverse the order of dismissal and remand the matter for further proceedings.
III.
Given the current state of our armed forces and the military commitments requiring the deployment and re-deployment of our
California, for example, now provides that “[a] party’s absence ... shall not, by itself, be sufficient to justify a modification of a custody ... order if the reason for the absence ... is the party’s activation to military service and deployment out of state.” Cal.Fam.Code § 3047 (West 2005). Arizona does not consider “military deployment of a custodial pаrent ... a change of circumstances that materially affects the welfare of the child if the custodial parent has filed a military family care plan ... and if the military deployment is less than six months.” Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 25-411B (2009).
Florida now provides:
*132 If ... a motion for modification ... is filed because a parent is ... deployed ... to military service and the parent’s ability to comply ... is materially affected as a result, the court may not ... modify ... a previous ... order that changes time-sharing as it existed on the date the parent was ... deployed ... except that a court may enter a temporary order to ... amend ... if there is clear and convincing evidence that the temporary modification ... is in the best interests of the child____
If a temporary order is issued under this section, the court shall reinstate the time-sharing order previously in effect upon the servicemember parent’s return from ... deployment____
[Fla. Stat. Ann. § 61.13002(1)-(2) (West 2008).]
See Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 722.27(1)(c) (West 2005) (permitting entry of temporary modification order while parent is on military duty if there exists “clear and convincing evidence” that modification is in the child’s best interests and further providing for reinstatement of original custody order upon parent’s return); Ky.Rev.Stat. § 403.340(5)(a) (West 2006) (providing that any modification order based upon military deployment shall be “temporary and shall revert back to the previous child custody decree at the end of the deployment”)
Texas now accords either parent the opportunity to move for a “temporary” order if military deployment requires “moving a substantial distance” from the parent’s residence “so as to materially affect [his] аbility to exercise [his] rights and duties in relation to a child ____” Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 153.702 (Vernon 2009). Such a temporary order “may grant rights to and impose duties on a designated person regarding the child,” short of imposing child support obligations. Ibid. Any temporary order terminates when “military deployment ... is concluded,” and then the “rights of all affected parties are governed by the terms of any court order” previously entered. Ibid. The Kansas statute places the
Despite the significant implication potential overseas deployment of New Jersey’s National Guard and reservists has upon the welfare of the State’s children, our legislature has not yet acted.
IV.
In the absence of legislation or speсific guidance from our Supreme Court, we have attempted to resolve the particular dispute before us, fully cognizant that our words will not be the last on the subject, nor, in our opinion, should they be. We cannot alleviate the pain caused to our military families whenever one parent is deployed and sent into harm’s way, though we seek to shield the children of those families from as much of that trauma as possible.
We fully recognize that the presumptively temporary nature of the deploying parent’s absence from the home creates practical problems not present whenever a court tries to resolve a more typical custody dispute. By the time a plenary hearing is held, the concerns raised by the deployment may be moot, or they may have already had their effect upon the child, thus evading our well-intentioned attempts to promote his best interests. Moreover, we do not think it fair for the returning parent to now bear the burden of demonstrating another change of circumstance warranting modification.
We do not intend that our words promote the shuffling of a child back-and-forth between his parents. A judge considering a contested matter under these circumstances is entitled to utilize “ ‘a basic principle of family law—that the parent having physical custody of the child is generally accorded broad responsi
We also recognize that custody evaluations, when necessary, are time-consuming and costly. After a servieemember has been deployed, conducting one may become impractical. An evaluator may easily be able to consider the circumstances in the home the deploying servieemember left behind, but he or she will undoubtedly have difficulty in contacting the deployed parent and cоnducting the kind of interview that routinely occurs in such evaluations. Despite these concerns, we are convinced that when confronted with a dispute of this nature, “the courts of this State should not abdicate their parens patriae duty to decide a custody issue on the basis of the best interests of the children.” Nehra v. Uhlar, 168 N.J.Super. 187, 193,
In conclusion, we hold that the parental presumption does not apply when one parent seeks modification of a previously-entered court order regarding custody solely because of the other parent’s impending military deployment. We further conclude that when the military deployment is likely to last a year or more and the application is contested, the parent seeking modification, having demonstrated a prima facie case of changed circumstances that affect the child’s welfare, is entitled to a plenary hearing if material facts remain disputed. Thereafter, the moving parent must demonstrate that tempоrary modification is in the child’s best interests.
We reverse the order under review only to the extent that it denied defendant’s motion without prejudice. We remand the matter for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We do not retain jurisdiction.
Notes
We have fictionalized the first name of the parties' son.
We have not been provided with the supporting papers regarding defendant's application for an order to show cause.
We denied defendant’s motion for emergent relief from the denial of her application for an order to show cause.
The statute provides that "no judgment or final order shall be entered” against someone “in the military service[]’’ ... "until after the court shall have
This was a factual error made by the judge, since plaintiff did not marry his present wife until 2006.
That statute provides in pertinent part:
In case of the death of the parent ... in whose custody the childf] actually [is], when the parents have been living separate and no award as to the custody of such childf ] has been made, the care and custody of such minor childf] shall not revert to the surviving parent without an order or judgment of the Superior Court to that effect. The Superior Court shall have the right, in an action brought by a guardian ad litem on behalf of the childf], to appoint such friend or other suitable person, guardian of such minor childf], and shall have the right to remove such guardian, and to appoint a new guardian or guardians, and to make such judgments and orders, from time to time, as the circumstances of the case and the benefit of the childf ] shall require.
[N.J.S.A. 9:2-5.]
Other cases involving the temporary military deployment of one spouse do not explicitly discuss the рarental presumption, but do apply the best interests analysis to decide the award of custody. See In re Marriage of Grantham,
Plaintiff advised us at oral argument that he is anticipating return from Iraq in February 2010. We were further advised that plaintiff had been granted leave and was actually spending time with his son when the case was argued before
The potential effects of a parent's military deployment upon a child and other family members have been well documented and are continually being studied. See James Dao, Deployment Taking Toll on Military's Children, N.Y. Times, Dec. 7, 2009, at A16 (citing a study by the Rand Corporation that found "children in military families were more likely to report anxiety than [other] children," and children of parents who "deployed in the previous three years," were "more likely to have difficulties in school and home” than other children); see also Aht Associates Team to Assess Impact of War Zone Deployment on Mental Health and Functioning of Military Families, Reuters, Sept. 29, 2009, http;//www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS 143772 + 29-Sep2009 + PRN20090929 (noting Army's award of multi-million dollar contract to assess effect of war zone deployment upon service members and their families); Adam Levine, Experts: Parents' Deployment Puts Kids at High Risk For Problems, CNN, Sept. 2, 2009, htttp://www.cnn.com/20 09/HEALTH/09/02/military.kids.stress/index.htmI (noting a study published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics that found "[a] third of military children surveyed who have a parent deployed in a war zone are at 'high risk' for psychological problems”); Stephanie Chen, When a Parent Goes to War, Military Kids Grow Up Fast, CNN, Aug. 20, 2009,
Defendant’s request that another judge hear the matter on remand lacks sufficient merit to warrant further comment. See R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(E).
See Deployed Troops Fight For Lost Custody of Kids: Children Taken From Single Parents in Uniform When They Are Mobilized, MSNBC, May 5, 2007, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18506417/ (noting the difficulties "140,000-plus single parents in uniform fight" with respect to their custody arrangements); see also Lizette Alvarez, Iraq Looms Closer for 13,000 National Guard Soldiers, N.Y. Times, Apr. 10, 2007, at A14, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/us/10reserves.html (discussing numbers of deployed and re-deployed national guardsmen and women in Iraq).
Congress also amended the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C.A. §§ 501-96 (2003), to accord those on active military duty certain protections. However, "[although these changes were important, child custody protection ... was overlooked.” Christopher Missick, Child Custody Protections in the Senhcemembers Civil Relief Act: Congress Acts to protect Parents Serving in the Armed Forces, 29 Whittier L.Rev. 857, 857 (2008).
Family care plans are mandatory for all servicemembers pursuant to 10 U.S.C.A. § 3013 (2003). See DA Form 5305, Dec. 2005, Family Care Plan, available at http://www.armygl.army.mil/dcs/docs/DaForm5305Family"CarePlan. pdf.
See Crouch v. Crouch,