Service members often have to spend long periods of time away from their loved ones in order to protect the country’s freedoms that the rest of the population gets to enjoy every day. They are also trained to cope with very difficult situations that most civilians will likely never fully understand. However, service members are also human beings and as such can be as vulnerable as anyone else to certain kinds of emotional pain.
Certainly, going through a divorce is one experience that can be trying for anyone. However, for those serving in the military, divorce can be fraught with extra complications. To begin with, often the process of filing for a military divorce takes place when the service member is on active duty. This means in addition to their service responsibilities, they must also tend to the details that are inherent in any divorce.
Many service members have children. This means they will have to concern themselves with settling issues of child support, child custody and visitation. What can make this aspect of military divorce especially daunting is that a civilian judge may not fully understand that it is the duty to country that is separating a military parent from his or her child and not apathy or selfishness. This misunderstanding could negatively affect a service member’s ability to get fair custody or visitation privileges.
This is why if you are a service member who is going through a divorce and seeking child custody or visitation rights, you may wish to contact a military divorce attorney who can represent your interests.
Attorney Keith E. Holloway has experience in helping service members with the special issues created by a military divorce. Go to his website to see how he may be able to help you.