It’s time now for a quick Q&A.
The Question: “What two principles should be in good supply when it comes to the rights of military parents who are either deployed or under some other service obligation?”
The Answer, according to state Rep. John McCoy: “Common sense and common decency.”
McCoy explained that military dads and moms “should never have to worry about their visitation rights with their youngsters.
“We should always go above and beyond to respect the parental rights and obligations of service personnel, especially when military fathers and mothers are serving during a time of war.”
Again this year here in the state capital, the Tulalip Democrat is prime-sponsoring legislation (House Bill 1107) that will:
- Allow a military parent to ask the court to delegate the parent’s residential time with a child if the parent’s military orders involve being more than one night away when the parent is scheduled to have time with a child.
- Provide that the delegation provision applies when establishing a parenting plan or court order, not just when modifying an existing plan or order.
Terms of the legislation direct that a military parent could ask a court to delegate the parent’s residential time or visitation rights “to a child’s family member, including a stepparent, or another person other than a parent, with a close and substantial relationship to the minor child for the duration of the military parent’s absence, [as long as] delegating residential time or visitation rights is in the child’s best interest.”
State law has resulted in court decisions that are “for the most part indifferent to the rights of military parents,” McCoy said. “But certainly if a dad or mom is away because they’re serving our country in the military, their parental rights should not be compromised.”
The issue hits home particularly hard here in Washington, which of all the states has one of the largest populations of active-duty military personnel.
McCoy’s legislation is awaiting a public hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.