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The State’s Own Civil Relief Act — Testify by Video, Get an Expedited Hearing, Hand Contact Rights to a Relative

Maine has its own Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act. Where military duties materially affect a member’s ability to appear, the court SHALL allow testimony and evidence by telephone, video teleconference or the internet, and SHALL hold an expedited hearing, unless good cause is shown. In a parent-child contact case the court shall allow the member to transfer contact rights temporarily to a blood or marriage relative with a significant connection to the child. A stay is also available, but only to Guard and Reserve members.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Remote testimony and an expedited hearing as of right; temporary transfer of parent-child contact; a stay for Guard and Reserve members

No sum is claimed. What is avoided is a default judgment, a lost hearing, or contact time forfeited because duties made attendance impossible.
Subsections 5 and 6 are written as "the court SHALL", subject only to good cause shown — they are stronger than a discretionary accommodation.
The stay in subsection 3 is discretionary and is limited to National Guard and Reserve members, so it is worth less than the remote-appearance right to a regular-component member.

Who is entitled to it

The section runs to the service member personally.
You are in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: On motion; the stay reaches to 60 days after the military service ends

1Note how wide "court" is here. The definition covers any administrative agency, any civil court, and any venue of a proceeding involving a case management officer — so the protections reach an agency hearing, not only a courtroom.
2Check which definition of service member you fall under: a member of the uniformed services as defined in 10 U.S.C. §101(a)(5), or a member of the state military forces on active state service as described in 37-B M.R.S. §101-A.
3For remote appearance, move under subsection 5. Where military duties have a material effect on the ability to appear in person at a regularly scheduled hearing, the court shall allow testimony and evidence by electronic means unless good cause is shown. The subsection names telephone, video teleconference and the internet, and says the list is not exhaustive.
4For speed, move under subsection 6 on the same material-effect test: the court shall hold an expedited hearing unless good cause is shown.
5In a parent-child contact case, move under subsection 7. The court shall allow a temporary transfer of contact rights to a relative BY BLOOD OR MARRIAGE who has a significant connection with the child or children — unless the transfer is not in the best interest of the child. The court may also do this on its own motion.
6The stay in subsection 3 is narrower than the heading suggests. It reaches an action in which the member is involved as plaintiff, defendant or attorney, during military service or within 60 days after it, and the section conditions it on the member being in the National Guard or the Reserves.
7A proceeding involving a child may not be stayed unless the stay is in the best interest of the child. Expect that to be argued.
8Applying for a stay is safe. Subsection 4 says an application for a stay, whether under the federal act or this section, does not constitute an appearance for any purpose — so asking does not waive a jurisdictional objection.
9Enforcement is through the case itself. There is no agency to complain to; the motion goes to the court hearing the matter.

Form: Motion in the civil case — no separate application form
File with: The court, administrative agency, or venue of a proceeding involving a case management officer
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

CorrectionThe section is titled as a state Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act, and it is routinely summarised as though it mirrored the federal statute. It does not. There is no interest-rate cap, no lease termination and no eviction protection in it. What it contains is four courtroom protections, and the most useful two — electronic testimony and an expedited hearing — are the ones nobody mentions.

CorrectionThe stay is narrower than the rest of the section. Subsection 3 conditions it on the plaintiff, defendant or attorney being a member of the NATIONAL GUARD OR THE RESERVES, while subsections 5, 6 and 7 apply to any service member as subsection 2 defines the term. A regular-component member reading only the stay would conclude wrongly that the section does not reach them.

Worth knowingSubsection 7 is not a grandparent-rights provision. The transfer runs to a relative by blood or marriage with a significant connection to the child, chosen by the member, and it is temporary — it is a way of keeping the member’s side of the family present during an absence.

Known gapWhether Maine courts have read "good cause" in subsections 5 and 6 narrowly, and how the section interacts with the federal act where both are pleaded, were not researched this session.

Sources

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