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The parent who is deploying has seven days from the time s/he finds out about his/her deployment to let the other parent know in writing. If s/he can’t do that because of his/her service, s/he must notify the other parent about it as soon as s/he can.1 Each parent then must give the other parent a written plan explaining how s/he will fulfill his/her share of the custodial responsibility during the deployment.
Note: If there is a court order in effect that keeps one parent’s address or contact information confidential, the other parent must notify the court that issued the order instead of notifying the protected parent directly.2
1 KRS § 403A.105(1)
2 KRS § 403A.105(2), (3)
My child’s other parent is being deployed and we want to make an agreement for temporary custody. What should the agreement include?
If both parents agree on temporary custody, Kentucky law allows them to enter into a temporary custody agreement. It must be written down and signed by both parents and any other person who is going to have responsibility for the child during the deployment, such as a grandparent.1 Think carefully about the details of your agreement, and make sure that everything you want to have happen with your child is included. Should the court ever need to get involved, the judge will likely only consider the written document and not any agreements you and the other parent may have made verbally.
Ideally, your agreement should contain the following information:
- If you can, explain where the military parent will be deploying, how long s/he will be gone, and what the conditions of his/her deployment are;
- Explain who will be taking care of the child, whether that is the deploying parent, the other parent, or any other person;
- Explain who will have the right to make decisions about the child while the agreement is in effect. This could mean the parent remaining at home makes some types of decisions while the military parent must be consulted for other types of decisions. If a nonparent is going to be helping care for the child, such as a grandparent or a trusted friend, state what the limits of his/her authority will be;
- If you are agreeing to any kind of limited contact for a nonparent, explain clearly what you are intending to allow;
- If the child is going to be living both with a parent and a nonparent, explain how you intend to solve any disagreements that may come up;
- Explain the contact the deploying parent will have with the child. You must include how often, how long, and what form the contact will take, for example, Zoom, phone calls, texts, emails, etc. If the parent at home needs to do something to make that contact happen, state exactly what the parent at home needs to do and who will pay for any costs that are associated with the contact;
- Explain what contact the deploying parent will have with the child while that parent is on leave or is otherwise available;
- State that both parents are aware that this agreement cannot modify any child support payments that have already been ordered, and that if the child support needs to be changed during the deployment, the parties must contact the court that issued the child support order;
- State that the temporary agreement will end after the deploying parent returns from the deployment; and
- If the agreement must be filed with the court, state which parent will be responsible for filing it.2
It’s important to include as many of these things in your agreement as you can, but your agreement won’t be invalid just because you leave a few things out.3 However, you often can avoid a lot of problems down the road if you can make your agreement as complete as possible.
1 KRS § 403A.201(1), (2)
2 KRS § 403A.201(3)
3 KRS § 403A.201(4)
My child’s other parent is back from deployment. What happens to our temporary custody agreement?
If you entered into a temporary custody agreement because of the other parent’s deployment, there are a few things that could happen. If your agreement specified a date that it would end, then it will end on that date. If your agreement didn’t specify a date, then you and the other parent can sign an agreement to end (“terminate”) the temporary arrangement any time after the deploying parent gets back. If you filed your temporary custody agreement with the court, then you need to file your termination agreement in the same court within a reasonable time after it’s signed.
If none of those situations apply to you, by law your agreement will end 60 days after the date the deploying parent let you know that s/he returned from deployment.1
1 KRS § 403A.401
Will deploying affect my ability to get custody of my child?
Kentucky judges cannot consider your deployment by itself to decide what is in the best interests of your child. This is true for past deployments and for any possible future deployments. However, the judge can consider any significant impact your military deployment may have on your child’s best interests.1
1 KRS § 403A.107
Can a temporary custody agreement made due to deployment be changed?
If you and the other parent agree on the change (“mutual consent,”) the temporary custody agreement you made to address either parent’s deployment can be changed.1
If you make the change before the deploying parent leaves, your changes must be made in writing and signed by both parents. If there is anyone else who will be responsible for your child under your new arrangement, s/he needs to sign the agreement too.2
If you make the change after the deployment begins, your changes must be clearly documented in some way (“in a record”). You will need the consent of both parents, along with anyone else who will be responsible for your child under your new agreement.3
If you and the other parent do not agree about the change, you may want to talk to a Kentucky lawyer to find out what your options are. Go to our KY Finding a Lawyer page for referrals.
1 KRS § 403A.203(1)
1 KRS § 403A.203(2)
1 KRS § 403A.203(3)
What happens if I am deploying soon and I am the only person responsible for my child?
You can fill out a power of attorney form to give all or part of your custodial responsibility to another adult while you are gone. However, a power of attorney is only an option when one of the following two things is true:
- no other parent has custodial responsibility under Kentucky law; or
- there is a court order currently in effect that prevents your child’s other parent from having contact with your child.1
You can end (“revoke”) the power of attorney at any time by signing a document that specifically says you are terminating it.1
1 KRS § 403A.204
