Subchapter II. General Relief
50 U.S.C. § 3938: SCRA Child Custody Protection for Deploying Parents
Official heading: Child custody protection
In one line
Protects deployed parents in custody cases. A temporary custody order based only on deployment must expire when the deployment does, and a court cannot treat deployment as the sole factor in deciding a child’s best interest.
- Deployment means movement to a location for more than 60 days and not more than 540 days on orders that are unaccompanied or do not allow family members to move there
- A State law that protects the deploying parent more strongly controls
- Creates no federal right of action, federal jurisdiction, or right of removal
Text checked October 9, 2026
What § 3938 does to your money
Custody fights are expensive, and a deployment can hand the other parent leverage. If a court issues a temporary custody order based solely on your deployment or anticipated deployment, § 3938 requires that the order expire no later than the period the deployment justifies. A deployment-based order cannot quietly become the new arrangement.
When someone asks for a permanent modification, no court may treat your absence because of deployment, or the possibility of deployment, as the sole factor in deciding the child’s best interest. “Deployment” here means a move of more than 60 and no more than 540 days on orders that are unaccompanied, do not authorize dependent travel, or otherwise do not let family members come.
The section creates no federal lawsuit and no right to move the case to federal court, so it is enforced inside the state custody case. Where state law protects the deploying parent more, the court must apply the higher state standard. Custody cases are also civil proceedings covered by the § 3931 and § 3932 stays. If the other parent files while you are deployed, a § 3932 stay is usually the first filing, and this section is the argument when the case is heard.
Guides on this site that apply § 3938
- Divorce While Deployed: SCRA Stays, Waivers, Custody & Defaults
Filing for divorce against a deployed servicemember, or getting divorced while deployed: the SCRA stay, the military affidavit, the waiver, and custody.
- The SCRA and MLA Benefits Most People Never Use
The lawful SCRA and MLA plays servicemembers rarely claim: 6% on your mortgage, penalty-free lease exits, a paused lawsuit, and tax you stop paying.
- What Is the SCRA? The Military Law Worth Thousands a Year
The SCRA (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act) caps pre-service debt at 6%, ends leases on orders, and blocks foreclosure without a court order. How it works.
The full text of 50 U.S.C. § 3938
From the United States Code, 2024 Edition, current through January 6, 2025, as published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office on GovInfo (retrieved October 10, 2026). No amendment enacted after the edition cutoff was found on Cornell LII or in GovInfo’s compiled SCRA (amended through Pub. L. 118-159, Dec. 23, 2024). House style: the Code’s em dashes before a list are shown as colons, and en dashes as hyphens or “to”; no word of the text is changed.
(a) Duration of temporary custody order based on certain deployments
If a court renders a temporary order for custodial responsibility for a child based solely on a deployment or anticipated deployment of a parent who is a servicemember, the court shall require that the temporary order shall expire not later than the period justified by the deployment of the servicemember.
(b) Limitation on consideration of member's deployment in determination of child's best interest
If a motion or a petition is filed seeking a permanent order to modify the custody of the child of a servicemember, no court may consider the absence of the servicemember by reason of deployment, or the possibility of deployment, as the sole factor in determining the best interest of the child.
(c) No Federal jurisdiction or right of action or removal
Nothing in this section shall create a Federal right of action or otherwise give rise to Federal jurisdiction or create a right of removal.
(d) Preemption
In any case where State law applicable to a child custody proceeding involving a temporary order as contemplated in this section provides a higher standard of protection to the rights of the parent who is a deploying servicemember than the rights provided under this section with respect to such temporary order, the appropriate court shall apply the higher State standard.
(e) Deployment defined
In this section, the term "deployment" means the movement or mobilization of a servicemember to a location for a period of longer than 60 days and not longer than 540 days pursuant to temporary or permanent official orders:
(1) that are designated as unaccompanied;
(2) for which dependent travel is not authorized; or
(3) that otherwise do not permit the movement of family members to that location.
Enacted and amended by: (Oct. 17, 1940, ch. 888, title II, §208, as added Pub. L. 113-291, div. A, title V, §566(a), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3384.)
Every section of the Act, including the short administrative ones without their own page, is on the section-by-section index.
Heads up: SCRA Saver publishes general information, not legal or financial advice. Laws change and every situation differs. Confirm details with your installation legal assistance office (free for service members) or a licensed professional.