Can Military Deployment Cost You Custody of Your Kids in California?

"If you're an active-duty service member, first of all, thank you for your service.

Can your deployment cost you the custody of your kids?

The answer may surprise you. In California, we actually have a statute, family code section 3047, which says no. If an active-duty service member is on deployment, we have to return to the status quo, the custody that they had before they were deployed.

That's unless this is California, so there's always a caveat. That's unless of course that wouldn't be in the best interest of the child.

What in the hell does that mean? Good question. So maybe you go on deployment, maybe you're on a Westpack and you're gone for a long time. And maybe you see some combat. And you come back and then your what? Probably wife, ex-wife says, "Well, he's changed. He's got PTSD." So even though the statute says that we should return to the status quo entie, guess what? "It's not in their best interest because..."

Now I think that's a bunch of bullsh*t. The long and short of it is that in theory you go back to where you were at the time you were deployed, which I think is the right move. I believe that there has to be something significant much more than histrionics and allegations that you saw combat or you may have some PTSD to prevent that.

What happens when you do that? Your kids haven't seen you for a while. They're pretty resilient.
They're probably going to be happy you're back and they're going to be proud that you're serving your country."