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Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act — Ten Days, Then a Hearing

On deployment orders a parent must give the other parent a copy within ten days, either parent may demand a hearing inside ten days, custody may not be permanently modified until the deployment ends, and the deploying parent may have a family member exercise their visitation.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

On deployment orders a parent must give the other parent a copy within ten days, either parent may demand a hearing inside ten days, custody may not be permanently modified until the deployment ends, and the deploying parent may have a family member exercise their visitation.

What it's worth: A ten-day hearing right and a bar on modification during deployment

  • "Deployment" is defined as a transfer on official orders for more than thirty consecutive days in support of combat, a contingency operation or a natural disaster, during which family members may not accompany the member at government expense.
  • "Servicemember" covers the active or reserve components of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, and the active or reserve components of the National Guard.
  • The Act also reaches Department of Defense civilian personnel and contractors serving in designated combat zones.
  • The protections are procedural. No payment follows from any of them, which is why no dollar figure is given.

Who is entitled to it

  • The Act runs to the deploying parent.
  • Your home is in Oklahoma.

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: Deployment orders to the other parent within ten days of receipt
  1. 1Give the other parent a copy of the deployment orders within ten days of receiving them. If the deployment date is less than ten days out, the copy goes over immediately.
  2. 2If a court order keeps the other parent’s address confidential, send the notification to the court instead, and the court notifies them.
  3. 3Ask for an expedited hearing. Either parent may request one, to be heard within ten days or before deployment, whichever comes first, and the court grants it where deployment or preparation would stop you appearing in person.
  4. 4Name your proposed designee in the application if you want a family member to exercise your visitation — a stepparent or step-sibling with a close and substantial relationship to the child is expressly contemplated, and that person has to attend the hearing.
  5. 5Elect to proceed rather than take the federal stay if you would rather be heard: the Act lets a deploying parent appear and give evidence by video conference, internet camera, e-mail or telephone.
  6. 6Point the court to §43-150.6(G): on a post-dissolution modification the court may not change the arrangement until the deployment expires, unless the child is at risk of serious irreparable harm.
  7. 7Point it also to §43-112.7: a deployment may not be used as evidence of a substantial, material and permanent change of circumstances warranting permanent modification.
  8. 8Notify the other parent when the deployment ends. A temporary order terminates by operation of law ten days after that notice and the previous order comes back automatically.
  9. 9If the other side plays games, ask for costs — the Act lets the court assess attorney fees and costs for bad faith or deliberate non-compliance.
Form
A motion in the court that holds the custody case
File with
The district court with jurisdiction over the custody matter
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingThere are two separate protections and they are easy to confuse. §43-112(C)(5) stops a final modification order while the parent is away. §43-112.7 stops the deployment itself being treated as the change of circumstances that would justify one later.
Worth knowingThe visitation a designated family member receives is carved out of the deploying parent’s own time — it cannot exceed it, and the Act says plainly that it creates no separate or permanent right for that person.
Known gapA deployment of thirty days or fewer, or one where families may accompany the member at government expense, falls outside the Act’s definition. Nothing read this session says what protection, if any, applies then.

Sources

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