New custody protections for troops in defense bill

Experiencing child custody issues because of your service to your country can be the most overwhelming issue some personnel may ever face.

In 2004 Kentucky guardsman Eva Slusher returned home to learn she had lost custody of her daughter because a judge had found that "military lifestyle isn't conducive to raising children. " The 2014 defense authorization bill has within it rules that mandated that child custody cases cannot be altered during a parent's military deployment, and that any pre deployment custody arrangements must remain in place upon the parent's return.

After battling for two years to regain custody of her daughter, Eva Slusher went on to push for national law to prevent other service members from facing the same fight. "This is about having peace of mind," she said. "When you're deployed, there are so many things to deal with. Worrying about your kids shouldn't be one of them."

In addition to this, "The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) is a federal law that allows military personnel to stay civil proceedings during military activation. A stay is a temporary suspension of a legal proceeding. However, many courts don't follow SCRA when it comes to child custody. They believe that the best interests of the child outweigh any federal legal protections to military parents."