Bill Text: GA HB282 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Military Parents' Rights Act; enact

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 4-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-23 - House Second Readers [HB282 Detail]

Download: Georgia-2011-HB282-Introduced.html

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11 LC 21 1082

House Bill 282

By: Representatives Yates of the 73rd, Black of the 174th, Coomer of the 14th, Hatchett of the 143rd, Parent of the 81st, and others

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

To amend Article 2 of Chapter 9 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Child Custody Intrastate Jurisdiction Act, so as to provide a short title; to provide procedures governing parental rights in the event one parent is subject to military deployment; to define certain terms; to provide that a court shall not enter a final order modifying parental rights of a deploying parent until 90 days after the deployment ends; to provide for a temporary order modifying parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child contact during the period of deployment or mobilization; to provide that either parent may file a motion to modify the temporary order upon the return of the deploying parent; to provide for testimony and evidence by electronic means; to provide for expedited procedures when a deployment is imminent; to provide for cooperation and disclosure of information; to provide for attorney's fees; to provide for permanent modification of child support or visitation in certain cases; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.

Article 2 of Chapter 9 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Child Custody Intrastate Jurisdiction Act, is amended by adding a new part to read as follows:

"Part 5

19-9-120.

This part shall be known and may be cited as the 'Military Parents' Rights Act.'

19-9-121.

As used in this part, the term:

(1) 'Deploy' and 'deployment' mean military service in compliance with military orders received by a member of the United States Armed Forces, including any reserve component thereof to report for combat operations, contingency operations, peacekeeping operations, a remote tour of duty, or other active service for which the deploying parent is required to report unaccompanied by any family member. Deployment includes a period during which a military parent remains subject to deployment orders and remains deployed on account of sickness, wounds, leave, or other lawful cause.

(2) 'Deploying parent' means a military parent who has been notified by military leadership that he or she will deploy or mobilize with the United States Armed Forces, including any reserve component thereof, or who is currently deployed or mobilized with the United States Armed Forces, including any reserve component thereof.

(3) 'Military parent' means a natural parent, adoptive parent, legal parent, or guardian of a child under the age of 18 whose parental rights have not been terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction, and who is a member of the United States Armed Forces, including any reserve component thereof.

(4) 'Mobilization' and 'mobilize' mean the call-up of National Guard or reserve service members to extended active service. Such term shall not include National Guard or reserve annual training, inactive duty days, drill weekends, temporary duty, or state active duty.

(5) 'Nondeploying parent' means a parent who is either not a member of the United States Armed Forces, including any reserve component thereof, or is a military parent who is currently not a deploying parent.

(6) 'State active duty' means the call-up by a governor for the performance of any military duty in state status.

(7) 'Temporary duty' means the transfer of a service member to a geographic location outside the state for a limited period of time to accomplish training or to assist in the performance of a noncombat mission.

19-9-122.

(a) If a deploying parent is required to be separated from a child, a court shall not enter a final order modifying parental rights and responsibilities and parent-child contact in an existing order until 90 days after the deployment ends, unless such modification is agreed to by the deploying parent.

(b) Absence created by deployment or mobilization or the potential for future deployment or mobilization shall not be the sole factor supporting a real, substantial, and unanticipated change in circumstances pursuant to Code Section 19-9-123 or grounds sufficient to support a permanent modification of the parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child contact established in an existing order.

19-9-123.

(a) Upon motion of a deploying or nondeploying parent, the court shall enter a temporary order modifying parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child contact during the period of deployment or mobilization when:

(1) A military parent who has shared, sole, or primary legal or physical parental rights and responsibilities for a child or who has parent-child contact pursuant to an existing court order has received notice from military leadership that he or she will deploy or mobilize in the near future; and

(2) The deployment or mobilization would have a material effect upon his or her ability to exercise such parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child contact.

(b) Motions for modification because of deployment shall be heard by the court as expeditiously as possible and shall be a priority for this purpose.

(c)(1) All temporary modification orders shall include a specific transition schedule to facilitate a return to the preemployment order over the shortest reasonable time period after the deployment ends, taking into consideration the child's best interests.

(2) The temporary order shall set a date certain for the end of deployment and the start of the transition period. If deployment is extended, the temporary order shall remain in effect during the extended deployment, and the transition schedule shall take effect at the end of the extended deployment. In that case, the nondeployed parent shall notify the court of the extended deployment. Failure of the nondeployed parent to notify the court in accordance with this paragraph shall not prejudice the deployed parent's right to return to the prior order once the temporary order expires as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection.

(3) The temporary order shall expire upon the completion of the transition, and the prior order for parental rights and responsibilities and parent-child contact shall be in effect.

(d) Upon motion of the deploying parent, the court may delegate his or her parent-child contact rights, or a portion of them, to a family member, a person with whom the deploying parent cohabits, or another person with a close and substantial relationship to the minor child or children for the duration of the deployment, upon a finding that it is in the child's best interests. Such delegated contact does not create separate rights to parent-child contact for a person other than a parent once the temporary order is no longer in effect.

(e) A temporary modification order issued pursuant to this Code section shall designate the deploying parent's parental rights and responsibilities for and parent-child contact with a child during a period of leave granted to the deploying parent, in the best interests of the child.

(f) A temporary order issued under this Code section may require any of the following if the court finds that it is in the best interests of the child:

(1) The nondeploying parent shall make the child reasonably available to the deploying parent when the deploying parent has leave;

(2) The nondeploying parent shall facilitate opportunities for telephonic, e-mail, and other such contact between the deploying parent and the child during deployment; and

(3) The deploying parent shall provide timely information regarding his or her leave schedule to the nondeploying parent. Actual leave dates are subject to change with little notice due to military necessity and shall not be used by the nondeploying parent to prevent parent-child contact.

(g) A court order modifying a previous order for parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child contact because of deployment shall specify that the deployment is the basis for the order, and it shall be entered by the court as a temporary order. The order shall further require the nondeploying parent to provide the court and the deploying parent with 30 days' advance written notice of any change of address and any change of telephone number.

19-9-124.

(a) Upon the return of the deploying parent, either parent may file a motion to modify the temporary order on the grounds that compliance with the order will result in immediate danger of irreparable harm to the child, and may request that the court issue an ex parte order. The deploying parent may file such a motion prior to his or her return. The motion shall be accompanied by an affidavit in support of the requested order. Upon a finding of irreparable harm based on the facts set forth in the affidavit, the court may issue an ex parte order modifying parental rights and responsibilities and parent-child contact. If the court issues an ex parte order, the court shall set the matter for hearing within ten days from the issuance of the order.

(b) Nothing in this part shall preclude the court from hearing a motion for permanent modification of parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child contact prior to or upon return of the deploying parent. The moving party shall bear the burden of showing a real, substantial, and unanticipated change in circumstances and that resumption of the parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child order in effect before the deployment is no longer in the child's best interests. The absence created by deployment or mobilization and any resulting temporary disruption to the child shall not be considered the sole factors in determining whether there has been a real, substantial, and unanticipated change of circumstances in regard to the motion to modify.

19-9-125.

Upon motion of a deploying parent, provided reasonable advance notice is given and good cause shown, the court shall allow such parent to present testimony and evidence by electronic means with respect to parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child contact matters instituted under this Code section when the deployment of that parent has a material effect on his or her ability to appear in person at a regularly scheduled hearing. The phrase 'electronic means' includes communication by telephone or video teleconference.

19-9-126.

If there is no existing order establishing the terms of parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child contact and it appears that deployment or mobilization is imminent, upon motion by either parent, the court shall expedite a hearing to establish temporary parental rights and responsibilities and parent-child contact to ensure the deploying parent has access to the child, to ensure disclosure of information, to grant other rights and duties set forth herein, and to provide other appropriate relief. Any initial pleading filed to establish parental rights and responsibilities for or parent-child contact with a child of a deploying parent shall be so identified at the time of filing by stating in the text of the pleading the specific facts related to deployment.

19-9-127.

Where an impending deployment may preclude court adjudication before deployment, the parties shall cooperate with each other in an effort to reach a mutually agreeable resolution of parental rights and responsibilities, parent-child contact, and child support. Each party shall provide information to one another in an effort to facilitate agreement on these issues. Within 14 days of receiving notification of deployment or mobilization in the near future from his or her military leadership, the military parent shall provide written notice to the nondeploying parent of the same. If less than 14 days' notice is received by the military parent, then notice must be given immediately upon receipt of notice to the nondeploying parent.

19-9-128.

In determining whether a parent has failed to exercise parent-child contact, the court shall not consider any time periods during which the parent did not exercise such contact due to the material effect of that parent's military duties on the contact schedule.

19-9-129.

In making determinations pursuant to this part, the court may award attorney's fees and costs based on the court's consideration of:

(1) Unreasonable failure of either party to accommodate the other party in parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child contact matters related to a deploying parent;

(2) Unreasonable delay caused by either party in resolving parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child contact related to a deploying parent;

(3) Failure of either party to provide timely information about income and earnings information to the other party; and

(4) Other factors as the court may consider appropriate and as may be required by law.

19-9-130.

Nothing in this part shall prevent the court from permanently modifying a decree of child custody or visitation in those cases where a military parent repeatedly volunteers for successive or frequent duties that removes him or her from the state and that makes him or her unavailable to supervise and care for a child effectively."

SECTION 2.

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.