Articles related to Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

In this post from 2015, https://civil.sog.unc.edu/servicemembers-civil-relief-act-applies-to-family-cases-too/, I wrote about the first appellate opinion in North Carolina to address the requirements of the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act, now codified at 50 […]

We’ve now posted a handful of times about the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) on this blog.  In particular, we’ve posted on the SCRA’s application to non-judicial foreclosures, juvenile proceedings, […]

*Note this post has been amended to reflect the December 2015 recodification of the SCRA

Earlier posts address the SCRA in family law actions and non-judicial foreclosures. It’s my turn to address the SCRA’s application to abuse, neglect, dependency (A/N/D), and termination of parental rights (TPR) actions.

When and Why Does the SCRA Apply?

The SCRA applies to any judicial or administrative proceeding, except for criminal proceedings. 50 U.S.C. § 3912(b). There is no exception for A/N/D or TPR actions, which are “child custody’ proceedings. G.S. 50A-102(4). Child custody proceedings are specifically referenced in the SCRA. 50 U.S.C. § 3931(a) and -3932(a).

In January we were reminded by the North Carolina Supreme Court in In Re J.B. that:

1) We have military personnel living throughout our state, not just in districts with military facilities, and

2) The federal Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. app. sec. 501, et. seq., (SCRA) applies to all non-criminal judicial and administrative proceedings involving service personnel, including domestic and juvenile cases.

The Act contains no exception for any civil proceeding. So it covers custody, divorce, support, equitable distribution, 50B and 50C cases, abuse, neglect and dependency proceedings and termination of parental rights.