Husband on remote orders.......how will it affect custody

[StepMomNFL]

My husband and I are the custodial parents for his 5 year old son. When we were in court the judge specifically asked if there was the possibility of him getting orders and he said yes. But, he also said that the liklihood of taking his family was good.

Unfortuantley, after 10 years in the AF, my husband has gotten a remote assignment to Korea for an 11 month tour. How will this affect the current custody situation. The BM and I do not see eye to eye, to say she hates me is being nice about it (it's a very long story, but I took away her "boy toy"). The child is supposed to go to his mother's house for Spring Break and Summer of next year, I will have to go to Texas to pick him up at the end of this visitation and I KNOW for a fact that she will not hand him over to me because my husband won't be present.

Do we need to go back to court to get this judgement modified in some way?? He will only be gone 11 months, but she is supposed to have the child twice in that time period.

 

[LegalBeagle]

My husband and I are the custodial parents for his 5 year old son. When we were in court the judge specifically asked if there was the possibility of him getting orders and he said yes. But, he also said that the liklihood of taking his family was good.

Unfortuantley, after 10 years in the AF, my husband has gotten a remote assignment to Korea for an 11 month tour. How will this affect the current custody situation. The BM and I do not see eye to eye, to say she hates me is being nice about it (it's a very long story, but I took away her "boy toy"). The child is supposed to go to his mother's house for Spring Break and Summer of next year, I will have to go to Texas to pick him up at the end of this visitation and I KNOW for a fact that she will not hand him over to me because my husband won't be present.

Do we need to go back to court to get this judgement modified in some way?? He will only be gone 11 months, but she is supposed to have the child twice in that time period.

Unless the mother has been proved to be unfit, then your husband is going to lose custody. The moment she finds out that he has 'abandoned' his child for 11 months, then it is all over bar the filings..

 

[StepMomNFL]

Just an update, after speaking with our attorney and the judge that heard the case in the beginning this was the outcome. (And thank you for your reply, but since it is military orders, and not a "personal" thing, it is NOT considered abandonment at all)

My husband has to sign a power of attorney for me and the judge will file that with his finaly judgement and if she wants to go back to court to get the child back, SHE will have to start the preceedings. So, we are not going to lose custody of him. There was a previous custody case for her first daughter where she signed away her rights via an affidavit that stated she used drugs in front of the child, left the child alone, etc and the judge has taken that into consideration especially since her situation has not imporved since that affidavit was signed. It's a very complicated story and it would take me days to explain it all.

But with military orders, they can not consider it abandonment because it is not a personal choice of the individual.

 

[LegalBeagle]

Just an update, after speaking with our attorney and the judge that heard the case in the beginning this was the outcome. (And thank you for your reply, but since it is military orders, and not a "personal" thing, it is NOT considered abandonment at all)

My husband has to sign a power of attorney for me and the judge will file that with his finaly judgement and if she wants to go back to court to get the child back, SHE will have to start the preceedings. So, we are not going to lose custody of him. There was a previous custody case for her first daughter where she signed away her rights via an affidavit that stated she used drugs in front of the child, left the child alone, etc and the judge has taken that into consideration especially since her situation has not imporved since that affidavit was signed. It's a very complicated story and it would take me days to explain it all.

But with military orders, they can not consider it abandonment because it is not a personal choice of the individual.

I used the term 'abandonment' losely. The father is effectively leaving behind his child for 11 months.

The advice I gave was based on the initial information. All things being equal, there is no way your husband would be able to retain custody. More importantly, a court would not rule in favor of a step mother over a fit and active bio mother. The moment the father left the country, she would be able to file a petition for custody and almost immediate gain temporary custody.

However, with the extra information you have given, then no, that is unlikely to happen.