Gulfport Family Law Blog

Military members sacrifice so much for their country. Being on active deployment can be the toughest time for military members and their families. This is because active deployment is usually characterized as a period of time when the military member is way from their family. If you and your spouse are involved in the military, you might wonder how active deployment could impact divorce proceedings.

The answer is, it depends. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a military member can postpone or suspend certain civil actions while mobilized or deployed for active duty. It covers all military service members from the date they enter active duty through 30 to 90 days after active duty date of discharge. Some people choose to continue with divorce proceedings during active duty deployment, but others would prefer to wait until they are discharged from active duty.

Being parents to a child and living in separate households has certain challenges that parents who live together do not experience. Generally, these parents are not in a romantic relationship with each other, although they can still co-parent. This type of arrangement is usually in the best interests of the child. However, every situation between parents and children is different.

Child custody arrangements are built around a family's unique needs and situation. For some families, a split custody arrangement is ideal, while for others one parent may not have custody rights. Instead, they could be working to meet other qualifications required by the court to be able to receive a child custody determination that is favorable to them in the future.

When it comes to your child's health, there are few things higher on a parent's priority list than ensuring that their child's health is in a good place. When a child has an unforeseen medical emergency, injury or illness, it can be a stressful time for all involved. As a parent, you can feel helpless if your child is suffering a medical incident and you are at the mercy of healthcare to make them well again. When you are sharing costs for raising a child in separate households, how are those expenses handled between the parents?

You likely already have a child support agreement in place per your child custody arrangement. However, what you may not know is how unforeseen, and often expensive, medical costs are for your child. Much of this can be decided per state law. Some state laws require that each parent pay a percentage of the costs per their income. This would be based on monthly income, also known as the income shares model.

Maybe you gave birth to your child knowing full-well you and your child's father would be co-parenting from separate households. Or maybe a custody arrangement is new, as you and your child's parent are getting a divorce. Maybe you just found out that you are the father to a child. Either way, a child custody arrangement is something that can and should be determined, with the best interests of the child in mind.

The topics that a child custody often covers is physical and legal custody, child support, division of duties etc. Determining who has physical and legal custody of a child covers most of the small issues that affect a child's everyday life. It's possible that parents can split physical and legal custody, or it may be awarded solely to one parent. Regardless of who has custody, both parents are expected to financially support the child, even if they do not have custody rights in the best interests of the child.