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Law Fathers & Families Helped Create Leads to Victory for High-Profile Military Parent
 Because of problems in the family court system, when a divorced or never-married military parent deploys overseas, they often face the possibility of losing their custodial arrangement and their relationship with their children.
Fathers & Families and its legislative representative Michael Robinson have been at the forefront of this issue, successfully working to pass military parent legislation in dozens of states. The first success on this issue occurred in 2005 in California with the passage of SB 1082.
SB 1082 addressed the way parents who serve are often taken advantage of in custody and family law matters while  they are deployed, and helped resolve the child support nightmare many mobilized reservists face. Fathers & Families organized a campaign in support of the bill, and the Senate Judiciary Committee Analysis of SB 1082 made specific note of your calls and letters. We've also had some success with federal legislation on this issue–to learn more, click here.
Lt. Col. Vanessa Benson is a part of these efforts, and she recently informed us that she had scored a victory in her highly-publicized custody battle. Benson had lost custody of her son following her deployment to Afghanistan, and was featured by CBS in its recent piece Military Parents Fight for Custody at Home. Originally CBS reported:
After returning home from Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Vanessa Benson is in what she calls, the fight of her life...She and her ex-husband are battling over custody of their 14-year-old son John.
Benson, in accordance with her mandated family action plan, temporarily gave the ex-husband custody before she was deployed last December with the understanding John would return home once she did. That didn't happen.
"I had gotten an e-mail from my son's father that says, ‘You need to get a lawyer. I'm not sending your son back to you,'” Benson told Miller.
Benson, who serves in the 101st Airborne Division, said she hasn't seen her son in about two months and hasn't lived with him in a year. The ex-husband did not want to talk to CBS News but has argued in court documents that it's in their son's best interest to stay with him in Florida for stability. But after seven months and $12,000 in legal bills, Benson said she doesn't think it is fair that she has to fight to win back a son she left behind to serve her country.
As we noted a couple weeks ago, the case isn't black and white, since John may sincerely want to stay in Florida to finish his last 3 1/2 years of high school. Regardless, military parents shouldn't forfeit their custody arrangements and role in their children's lives simply because they're serving their country.
Last week Benson won her case, and it was partly because of the work Fathers & Families is doing. As this CBS News update explains, Benson was awarded temporary custody of her son in a hearing last week–the photo above was taken right after the judge announced her decision.
HB 435, the Florida law that has helped military parents, including Benson, was signed into law in July of 2007. Father & Families' Robinson worked extensively with Florida House Member Gayle Harrel, the bill's sponsor, as well as her legislative assistant Luke Rossknecht. The Florida statute makes it clear that if a court has issued a temporary child custody order as a result of a parent being deployed, once the deployed parent has returned the previous orders that were in effect prior to deployment must be reinstated. Section 61.13002 (2) of the Florida Statute reads:
(2) If a temporary order is issued under this section, the court shall reinstate the custody judgment or order previously in effect upon the parent's return from active military service, deployment, or temporary assignment.
Countless military parents have had their role in their children's lives safeguarded by the legislation we've helped pass. Those who serve deserve nothing less.
At Last, Sean Goldman Comes Home
It's taken over five years and the indescribable efforts of his father, David Goldman, countless courts, attorneys and the State Departments of two presidents to accomplish the task, but Sean Goldman finally got on a plane in Brazil with his father bound for the United States.
Sean was abducted by his mother five years ago, when he was four years old. Under the pretense of taking him for a two-week vacation to visit her family in Brazil, mother Bruna Bianchi left the United States and never came back. In short order, she divorced Sean's father and remarried, only to die in childbirth in 2008.
Both the United States and Brazil are signatories to the Hague Convention that governs international child kidnapping. That means that both countries are bound to return kidnapped children within their jurisdictions. But for over half of Sean's short life, the courts and government of Brazil refused to abide by the clear terms of the treaty.
David Goldman traveled to Brazil several times hoping to regain custody of his son, only to be turned away due to adverse court rulings...
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 Fathers and Families is a family court reform organization with a comprehensive strategy, an impressive history of fundraising success, and the largest reach of any advocacy group of its kind:
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In a year when almost all non-profits' revenues have declined and many are laying off employees, F & F's revenues are up and we are expanding. More revenue equals more staff, which means more work, more progress, and more victories.
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F & F Action Items--Have You Participated Yet? |
Action Item #1: Campaign to Ask DSM to Include Parental Alienation in Upcoming Edition
A group of 50 mental health experts from 10 countries are part of an effort to add Parental Alienation to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM V), the American Psychiatric Association's 'bible" of diagnoses. Fathers & Families wants to ensure that the DSM-V Task Force is aware of the scope and severity of Parental Alienation. To this end, we are asking our members and supporters to write DSM. If you or someone you love has been the victim of Parental Alienation, we want you to tell your story to the DSM-V Task Force. To do so, simply fill in our form by clicking here.
Fathers & Families has already physically mailed over 500 of your letters and stories to the DSM Task Committee, and we have many more to go. To learn more about our campaign, click here.
Action Item #2: F & F Submitting Military Parent Cases to Secretary of Defense for Upcoming Report
Are you a military parent who has had family law problems? Fathers & Families is submitting military parents' cases to the Secretary of Defense—to be included, please fill out this form.
Partly due to the efforts of Fathers & Families' legislative representative Michael Robinson, federal HR 2647 mandates that the Secretary of Defense produce a report on child custody litigation involving members of the Armed Forces, as well as international intrafamilial abductions of servicemembers' children.
The Secretary of Defense will submit its report to the Armed Services Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives by the end of March. If you are a military mother or father whose custody rights have been adversely affected due to your service, we want to make sure your story is included in the Secretary of Defense's report. To submit your story for inclusion, please click here.
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