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Deployment and Custody — Temporary by Law, With an Expedited Hearing and Testimony by Video

A deploying parent can hand caretaking authority to the other parent, a family member or another nonparent by written agreement — and it is temporary by operation of law. Where it goes to court instead, the hearing is expedited if the motion is filed before deployment, and a parent who cannot attend may testify by telephone, video or internet. On return, an agreement ends sixty days after notice even if nobody signs anything.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Temporary custodial arrangements for a deployment of more than 90 days and less than 18 months: agreement or court order, expedited hearing, testimony by electronic means, and automatic termination 60 days after notice of return

Deployment is defined as movement or mobilisation for more than ninety days but less than eighteen months under uniformed service orders that are designated unaccompanied, do not authorise dependent travel, or otherwise do not permit family members to move to the location.
A deploying parent must notify the other parent in a record not later than seven days after receiving notice of deployment or redeployment, unless reasonably prevented by the circumstances of service.
Each parent must then provide the other, in a record, with a plan for fulfilling their share of custodial responsibility during the deployment, as soon as reasonably possible.
Where a court order prohibits disclosure of the other parent's address, notification is made only to the issuing court, which forwards it and keeps the address confidential.
A court may consider the reasonableness of a parent's efforts to comply with the notification section in a custodial responsibility proceeding.
Where a motion to grant custodial responsibility is filed before the deploying parent deploys, the court must conduct an expedited hearing.
A party or witness not reasonably available to appear personally may appear, testify and present evidence by electronic means unless the court finds good cause to require a personal appearance.
A prior judicial order designating custodial responsibility in the event of deployment binds the court unless the ordinary test for modifying such an order is met, and the court must enforce a prior written agreement between the parents on the same subject.
Deployment does not change the deploying parent's residence for the purposes of the state's child custody jurisdiction chapter.
In the absence of a signed agreement to terminate, a temporary agreement granting custodial responsibility ends sixty days after the deploying parent gives the other parent notice of return from deployment.
A court may assess reasonable attorney's fees and costs against a party who acts in bad faith or intentionally fails to comply with the chapter.

Who is entitled to it

You are in this state.

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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.

From what you have told us so far, you appear to qualify.

How to claim it

1Notify the other parent within seven days of getting the deployment notice, in a record. That is a statutory duty, and a court may later weigh how reasonable your efforts to comply were.
2File before you go, not after. The expedited hearing is available only where the motion is filed BEFORE the deploying parent deploys. Miss that and you are in the ordinary queue from overseas.
3Ask for testimony by electronic means in the motion itself. The chapter allows telephone, video teleconference or internet where you are not reasonably available in person, and the court has to find good cause to refuse.
4Put the arrangement in a written agreement if you and the other parent can. The chapter gives agreements real force — a court must enforce a prior written agreement designating custodial responsibility in the event of deployment.
5A nonparent can be given caretaking or decision-making authority, and a family member can be given limited contact. That is the route for a grandparent or a stepparent who is actually doing the caring.
6Diary the sixty-day clock on your return. Without a signed agreement to terminate, a temporary agreement ends sixty days after you give notice that you are back — so give that notice in writing and keep it.
7If the other parent stonewalls, the chapter allows a court to award attorney's fees and costs against a party who acts in bad faith or intentionally fails to comply. Say so early.

Form: A written agreement between the parents, or a motion for a temporary custody order
File with: The other parent, and the district court where a court order is needed
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

CorrectionThe uniform act on which this chapter is based contains a section barring a court from treating a parent's past or possible future deployment, by itself, as a reason to change custody. That section is NOT in the chapter as enacted here — section 103 in this state is remedies for noncompliance. A parent who has read about that protection elsewhere should not assume it is in this state's statute book, and should ask a lawyer what does protect them.

Worth knowingThe definition of deployment is a real gate: more than ninety days but less than eighteen months, on orders that do not permit the family to come. A shorter mobilisation or an accompanied assignment is outside this chapter entirely.

Known gapThe chapter governs procedure. It does not tell you what a court will decide, and it does not replace advice on a contested case. A legal assistance officer or a family lawyer should read the specific sections against your order.

Sources

authority · statuteN.D.C.C. ch. 14-09.3 — Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act

Why only one source type: The chapter was read in full from the legislature's own compiled PDF, section headings and operative text alike. It states its own definitions, duties, deadlines and remedies; no agency page adds to it.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.