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Introduction: Default Judgments Affect Military People Differently
In one of our previous posts, we discussed some of the main issues affecting military divorces here in the State of Maryland. As we know, military divorces tend to be among the more complex cases in family law, and the reasons underlying this complexity are varied. One of the reasons is the fact that these dissolutions often intersect with federal law, and so specialized expertise is frequently necessary to navigate these cases successfully. Furthermore, another reason for the complexity is due to the fact that military spouses are often not in a position to attend some or all divorce hearings. Ordinarily, a spouse who fails to attend a hearing or multiple hearings may face a default judgment, something which tends to be very much against the interests of the absentee spouse. But, fortunately for military spouses, unavoidable absences are not always held against them.
In this post, we will go over some of the details of the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), a law which tries to bring fairness to military people who aren’t able to attend certain family law hearings.
Details on the Mechanics of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
The SCRA provides important protections for active military people, and this includes reservists and National Guardspeople. This law provides various forms of relief, such as protection against auto repossessions, but for the purposes of this article we will confine ourselves to relief in the area of family law.
One of the primary protections for military spouses under the SCRA is protection against default judgments. In the context of family law, default judgments can be quite detrimental to the absentee party; default judgments can lead to adverse custody arrangements, flawed interpretations of settlement agreements, and so forth. When a military person is unable to attend a hearing because of a legitimate conflict, the SCRA provides that the presiding judge must appoint counsel to represent the absentee servicemember. The judge must also implement a 90 day stay (or delay) in the event that a determination is made that the absentee member’s presence is vital to the case. Hence, there is an inbuilt protection against default judgments due to unpreventable absences on the part of servicemembers.
Even if a default judgment is entered against an active servicemember within 60 days of that servicemembers’ active duties, the SCRA also allows that servicemember to reopen the case as long as the absence was directly related to the service. In other words, the SCRA provides an additional layer of protection even in the event that a default judgment is actually entered against a servicemember.
In addition to these things, the SCRA also protects servicemembers from adverse custody rulings which derive specifically from deployment. Courts cannot enter a modification of an existing custody order simply because of deployment; furthermore, if a temporary custody order must be altered because of deployment, the order must automatically revert back to the original order after that deployment period ends.
Contact the Murphy Law Firm for More Information
If readers want to know more about default judgments involving military spouses, default judgments in general, the divorce process generally, or any other related family law topic, contact one of the family law attorneys at the Murphy Law Firm today by calling 240-219-1187.
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