Custody

An agreement about temporary custody during a deployment must state the following:

• where the parent will be deploying, for how long, and under what conditions;
• how caretaking responsibilities will be divided among the deploying parent, the other parent, and anyone else (a “nonparent”);
• if a nonparent is taking care of the children,
  
  • what kind of legal custody they will have; in other words, which decisions they can make while the children are in their care; 
  • they must do what the parent would want unless that is not in the best interest of the children;
• whether a nonparent can have limited contact with the children and how much contact they can have;
• how disputes will be resolved if multiple people are sharing custodial responsibility;
• how the deploying parent will have contact with the children, for example, if they will talk by phone, video, email, etc., and how often;
• whether the other parent or a nonparent will need to do anything to help the children contact the deploying parent;
• who will pay for the communication costs;
• what kind of contact the deploying parent will have with the children;
• an acknowledgment that the agreement can’t change child support obligations – a parent would need to file a child support modification petition in court to do that;
• that this agreement will end when the parent returns from deployment;¹ 
• that anyone trying to change the children’s residence must follow the relocation rules explained in I have a custody order. Can I move with my child? and How do I tell the other parent that I want to move?;² and
• who will file this agreement in court, if it needs to be filed.³

If a nonparent will have temporary custodial responsibility, that person must also sign a statement that they will follow the parents’ agreement.⁴

¹ 51 Pa.C.S. § 4611(c)(1)-(4), I(6)-(10)
² 51 Pa.C.S. § 4611(b)(3); 23 Pa.C.S. § 5337
³ 51 Pa.C.S. § 4611(c)(11)-(c)(12)
⁴ 51 Pa.C.S. § 4611(c)(5)