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What must be in an interim custody agreement during deployment?

On Behalf of | Sep 21, 2018 | Child Custody |

There are many people who serve in the military and reside in Colorado. Some have custody of children and will need to come to an agreement with the noncustodial parent when they are ordered to deploy. This can be a difficult situation to navigate especially if there are personal issues between the parties. The best interests of the child are paramount and, hopefully, the parents can put their lingering animosities aside and put that into perspective when deployment is on the horizon.

Even in cases where the parents are amicable, it is wise to understand how to go about formulating an agreement to grant custodial responsibility to another person when the custodial parent is deployed. With an agreement to grant custody during deployment, the following must be in place: it should be in writing and signed by the parents and, if there is a person who is not a parent taking custody, they too should sign it.

If it is feasible, the following should also be in place with the agreement: it should identify the location, amount of time, and the conditions of the deployment that necessitates the agreement; it should specify the caretaking authority and how it is allocated among the interested parties; it should make clear the decision-making rights; it should specify limited contact for a nonparent; if there is shared custody between a parent and nonparent, there must be a process to settle disagreements; it should make clear when and how communication can take place between the deploying parent and the child; it should acknowledge the possibility that the child support cannot be modified simply be agreement and that it needs a court order; and it should specify that the agreement will end when the deployment ends.

Deploying parents will have understandable concerns about a child and what will happen with child custody during and after deployment. Having an agreement in place can assuage those concerns and be beneficial for all parties, particularly the child. A law firm that is experienced in custody can help to formulate the agreement from the perspectives of everyone involved.