I recently represented a military member who is on active duty. I was appointed by the court because when a military member is on active duty, the Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act (federal law) requires counsel to be appointed if the person has notice of the action, but does not appear. It is slightly more complicated than that, but you get the idea. If the military member does not "enter his appearance, " i.e. file a piece of paper with the court that states they are "entering their appearance" or an attorney is entering on their behalf, that military member has not consented to the jurisdiction of the court and the court order or judgment can be re-opened when that military member finishes their active duty.
In a typical adoption, if the biological parent had notice of the hearing, it would go forward without him or her, their parental rights would be terminated, and the child could be adopted.
In this case, there were additional hoops to go through to get it done, and we were still concerned that the military member could come back in two years and contest the adoption. Long story short, he cooperated with the documents, finally got us the originals with his signature, and this family can go on with their lives without worrying about a sledge hammer two years down the road.
I guess in summary, I wanted to point out that I am all for our military members and appreciate all that they do for our country. It is frustrating though, when the system can be manipulated. The people adopting this little girl did not deserve this additional frustration! It is typical in this business to hear the saying, "the Act is meant to be used as a shield, not a sword." This is a true example.
In our office, in Newport, we represent a good number of military members and their spouses. If you have a military family law question or concern, call us at 401-841-5700 or visit our website at www.CounselFirst.com
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