The simple answer is yes. If the military deploys your spouse overseas, you can still pursue and finalize a divorce. However, there is a law in place that offers some complications to the process, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). This is a federal act and is valid in California. While the SCRA does not outright stop civil actions against a deployed servicemember, it is going to impact your case in these ways:
Delays of proceedings
The SCRA requires that courts postpone any civil proceeding for 90 days. This stay is automatic as long as the servicemember requests it after notification. At the end of the first 90 days, they can apply for another stay, but the court may deny that one. And there are many reasons that a court may make that choice.
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Relief from default judgments
A default judgment in family law is where the court enters a judgment against a party for non-appearance. If the court enters a default against a deployed individual, that service member may apply to have the default judgment set aside within a certain amount of time.
These are hurdles, not walls
To be clear, these are not a total stop of your needs in family law. They are simply obstacles. The initial, mandatory stay is a 90-day delay, but being deployed overseas in the time of Zoom and virtual appointments is not the hurdle to court appearances it once was.
Having a default judgment reopened is inconvenient. Relitigating a closed issue does offer the chance that you will have whatever you won previously undone. However, your legal team should be ready to argue for every appearance and not hope to rely on a default. We certainly don’t.
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SCRA affects all civil litigation
But, with the right team behind, you can face the complexity of military family law with confidence.
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