Divorce is never an ideal situation. The process can be more complex if you or your spouse serve in the military. Issues from custody to child support can be much more complicated when you factor in deployments, changing duty stations, and the like. Here are some things you should know about a divorce while in the military.

Dealing with Custody

If you have children, one of the most important issues you will deal with in any divorce is child custody. When you divorce and one of you is enlisted in the military, you have to consider the difficulties with the change in living situations. You will have to include these changes during your custody negotiation.

If you and your spouse are both enlisted, you have to have a more fluid custody arrangement. Either of you can be deployed at any time. You could also be sent to different duty stations across the world from each other. You will both have to work out a situation in which you can both see your children as equally as possible.

You also have to consider deployments. If you both have to deploy at the same time, you need to agree on who will be the guardians of the children before you leave. You should name more than one set of guardians in the event your children need additional care or wish to stay with other family members while you are away.

Dealing with Child Support

You also need to think about child support. You will need to communicate how you will deal with the payments. Like child custody, child support payments will likely be a fluid situation. If you have to go to another country to serve, you can choose to pay more money since you will not be present for your custody time, in which you would then provide for the children's needs. Once you get home, you can then modify the child support agreement to a more equitable figure based on your new circumstances.

If you receive the child support and you have to deploy, you will then have to modify the child support payments in a reverse pattern. You will then have to pay your former spouse in the same way. Be sure to take care of any modifications to child support well before either of you deploy.

Dealing with your children during a divorce is a difficult time, especially if you have to also deal with the requirements of military service. Be sure to work with your attorney so you both have a fair share of time with your children. For more information, contact a lawyer such as Karen Robins Carnegie PLC today.