B. Section 452.412

• Library: Military Issues in Family Law 2017

B. Section 452.412

1. A party’s absence, relocation, or failure to comply with custody and visitation orders shall not, by itself, be sufficient to justify a modification of a custody or visitation order if the reason for the absence, relocation, or failure to comply is the party’s activation to military service and deployment out-of-state.

Section 452.412.1, RSMo 2016.

Deployments, mobilizations, PCS (Permanent Changes of Duty Station) orders, and TDY (Temporary Duty) orders are all ingrained into the fabric of military life. Sometimes a servicemember knows about these types of events far in advance and other times they have very short notice that they will be sent somewhere. The fact that a servicemember is deployed or mobilized to active duty is normally beyond their control. This statute is in line with the general premise that litigants should not be punished for failing to follow a provision of a judgment or order if their noncompliance is beyond their control (e.g., contemnor will not be held in contempt if he or she proves that noncompliance...