Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act (UDPCVA)

Are you involved in a divorce or child custody case involving military deployment? (The Colorado statutory tiles for these are dissolution of marriage and allocation of parental responsibilities). An experienced Colorado Springs divorce and child custody lawyer can guide you through the legal process and assist you in exploring your options. You have one bite at the apple in the court system so make it count.

 The Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act (UDPCVA) applies to mobilized military parents. It covers unaccompanied tours of duty of up to 18 months. An unaccompanied tour is one where the military member may not bring dependents at government expense, or at all. The UDPCVA provides that a state does not lose jurisdiction over parenting due to the mobilization of a military parent. Such mobilizations are mandatory for military personnel.

The UDPCVA is divided into five articles. The first article covers enforcement, attorney fees, and military residency protections. A court may not solely consider a parent’s past deployment or possible future deployment in deciding APR. The Court may, however, consider the impact of deployments on children. Articles 2 and 3 address matters that arise upon notice of deployment and during the actual absence, as well as resolution of parenting matters during mobilization. Articles 4 and 5 govern post-deployment matters. The Act provides several benefits for servicemembers and families:

(1) It helps to ensure that the deployment will not disadvantage the deploying parent solely because of the military reassignment.

(2) It encourages parental resolution as opposed to court proceedings on parenting time and communication during deployment.

(3) It provides for remote testimony during deployment.

(4) It allows the Court to delegate care of children to family members other than biological parents.

The UDPCVA utilizes the following parenting definitions, which differ from Colorado statutory terminology but have counterparts in Colorado law:

(1) “Custodial Responsibility” is “all powers and duties relating to caretaking authority and decision-making authority for a child. The term includes physical custody, legal custody, parenting time, right to access, visitation, and authority to grant limited contact with a child.” This equates to Colorado’s term allocation of parental responsibilities

(2) “Limited Contact” is “the authority of a nonparent to visit a child for a limited time. The term includes the authority to take the child to a place other than the residence of the child.”

 This equates to Colorado’s term parenting time.

(3) “Decision-Making Authority” means the authority to make major parenting decisions. This term is the same as the Colorado statutory term.

Often when a servicemember deploys, the other biological parent assumes the deployed parent’s time; however that is not always the case. For example, a dual military couple may have to deploy at the same time. Additionally, because of the requirement to travel or relocate, it is common for extended family to assist in caregiving for military families. As related to third-party custodial care, a nonparent granted custodial responsibility may request to enforce a court order.¹⁷ Child support may also be modified for deployment. For practical purposes, a court may only grant a nonparent caretaking authority (i.e., parenting time) if the nonparent is:

(1) An adult family member; for example, a sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin, stepparent, or grandparent of the child, or a person in a recognized familial relationship with the child; or

(2) An adult with whom the child has a close and substantial relationship having had physical care of the child for more than 182 days in the last year.

Additionally, the nonparent’s time and decision-making authority are limited to those previously held by the deploying parent and are not automatically expanded or modified. Upon request by the deploying parent, a nonparent who is an adult family member or has a close and substantial relationship with the child shall be granted limited contact (i.e., parenting time) unless the Court finds it would not be in the child’s best interests. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for parents to dispute whether children should have access to third parties. Sometimes this is based on legitimate concerns, however sometimes it is related a parent’s like or dislike of the other parent and/or his or her extended family or new spouse.

A Colorado court has to have jurisdiction under the UCCJEA before entering an order under the UDPCVA, with the exception of emergency orders. The deploying parent is required to notify the other parent of the pending deployment within 12 days of receiving deployment orders. The deploying parent must then provide a proposed deployment parenting plan. If the parents cannot reach agreement on the deployment parenting plan, then either parent may file a “motion regarding custodial responsibility of a child during deployment.” The hearing should be expedited. It should be noted that this is not treated as a 14-day turnaround emergency hearing, but rather an expedited hearing. A deployment custody agreement terminates 35 days after the service member has provided notice that he or she has returned from deployment unless otherwise agreed.

If the parents enter into an agreement after court filing, it must be signed by the parents and any nonparent who will execute custodial responsibility. The agreement is generally filed with the Court for issuance as an enforceable order. Pursuant to C.R.S. § 14-13.7-201(3), the agreement must specify:

(1) The duration and destination of the deployment, as permitted to be disclosed;

(2) The allocation of “caretaking authority” (i.e., parenting time);

(3) The allocation of decision-making authority;

(4) Contact allocated to third parties;

(5) A dispute resolution process;

(6) Communication procedures between the deployed parent and children;

(7) A provision that a child support modification requires court approval; and

(8) An identification of the agreement termination date.²⁷

Reserve and National Guard parents perform military service part-time as well as full-time during certain timeframes—often one weekend a month and two or more weeks of full-time service a year. Reserve and National Guard parents may also deploy to combat zones or remote duty for longer periods of time. In addition to federal parental protections during deployment, there was previously a Colorado state law that protected parents in the military Reserve and National Guard forces who were required to perform federal duty or deployed for more than 30 days in a calendar year. The state law offered reserve and guard parents similar protections to the federal law, preventing a permanent parenting time modification based only on the deployment of a parent. Now subsequent federal law addresses the issue.

Turning Change Into Opportunity in Colorado Springs, Colorado Divorce and Child Custody

A highly knowledgeable and experienced Colorado Springs divorce and child custody lawyer can guide you through Colorado Springs divorce and child custody matters by negotiating, mediating and litigating on your behalf. You can focus on moving to a better future instead of spending your time attempting to navigate complex legal rules and procedures.

Sabra Janko from Janko Family Law has more than 20 years of legal experience and has written “the book” on Colorado divorce and family law – “Colorado Family Law With Forms”, published by LexisNexis, which you can find at https://store.lexisnexis.com/products/colorado-family-law-with-forms-skuSKU02903. Contact us at 719-344-5523 or complete our online scheduling request for a free 30-minute informational consultation. We also offer paid advice sessions for a more in-depth analysis of your case.