Service members in the U.S. military often experience extra strain on their marriages due to the stress of military life, especially during long deployments. Research by the RAND Corporation reveals that the military divorce rate exceeds the civilian divorce rate, and the risk rises higher with each successive deployment. However, a recent child custody case in Washington state revealed that the issues with divorce and deployments do not end once the divorce decree is finalized. A naval service member was issued a warrant for his arrest when he failed to show up for a custody hearing that his ex-wife had scheduled while he was deployed.

The Washington Case

The Washington case centered around a Washington-based submariner who was currently on deployment in Michigan. The submariner had primary custody of his daughter, and had left the daughter in the care of his new wife while he was deployed. The man's ex-wife filed a petition to change the custody order while he was serving in Michigan. The submariner naturally failed to appear, and the judge, who was unaware that he was currently deployed, issued a warrant for his arrest. Once the judge was made aware of the submariner's deployment, all proceedings were properly postponed.

In divorces that involve children, the parents’ paramount questions are often related to custody and include concerns such as how custody is determined or the various types of custody. One common issue that arises when determining the answers to these concerns involves how siblings affect the custody process in general. Siblings’ relationships with each other can often be very close, and the existence of these additional close relationships may complicate the custody process.

Generally, there are two major concerns related to siblings and custody. These include whether the court will keep the siblings together and whether siblings are allowed visitation rights to the other siblings. Unfortunately, neither question has a concrete answer. Family law is a discipline with many unique scenarios. However, there are legal guidelines within which courts will work.

Keeping Siblings Together 

Summer can be a particularly stressful time for parents. Kids are home from school and need supervision and entertainment. In addition to the time these things take, there can be an added financial stress during an already stressful time.

In fact, the majority of adults feel extra worry about money during the summer, and this worry is particularly pronounced among parents of children under 17, with 62 percent of whom expect to spend over $1,400 on activities for their kids, according to a study done by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. These stresses are only compounded for divorced parents who have an extra layer of complexity because of joint child custody agreements.

Added Summer Stress from Divorce

A new bill currently making its way through the Illinois legislature could have a big impact on how judges assign visitation rights. The bill, HB 5425, recently made its way out of committee and is now headed to the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives for debate. At present the bill’s chances of passing are still unclear. Its sponsor has agreed to refrain from calling for a vote in light of a family law overhaul bill that has been waiting for a vote since 2012, but that may change if the omnibus bill stalls for much longer.

 The Bill’s Provisions

 If HB 5425 does make it into law, it could have a profound effect on the way judges handle visitation for non-custodial parents. The first portion of the bill gives parents a 90-day window to produce their own, mutually-agreeable parenting plan. If the parents cannot agree, then the bill gives the court the power to make visitation decisions.

While a parental divorce can be a struggle for most children, a study from the University of California at Berkeley identified that in our culture, daughters tend to suffer disproportionately. This happens because, according to the study, marriages with firstborn daughters tend to end in divorce more often than marriages with firstborn sons, all else holding equal.

The paper reports that the chances of a firstborn girl living without a father are 3.1 percent higher than a firstborn boy, which, they say, is a difference of approximately 5,000 girls a year. This increase in divorce among the parents of daughters can cause long term problems if both parents do not take steps to avoid them.

Why the Difference?