New Family Care Plan Requirements

  • Published
  • 355th Fighter Wing Legal Office
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Do you share custody of your children with someone you are not married to? Do you have a blended family? If the answer is yes, then it is time for you to re-examine your family care plan.

The Air Force recently made an update to Air Force Instruction 36-2908 regarding family care plans. Now members who want to name a non-custodial parent as the short or long term caregiver must take actions, including consulting an attorney, to support their family care plan.

Who is a non-custodial parent? Most children have two parents. If two parents are married to each other, then each parent shares custody. If the two parents are not married to each other, then we have to look at whatever legal arrangements have been made regarding the children, be it adoption papers, divorce decree or child custody arrangements. Who has custody of the children? Many times parents will have joint custody, but only one parent has primary physical custody, meaning the children live with that parent most of the time.

Who is a non-custodian parent? It is someone who does not legally have custody of the children. For example, if you are a deploying single parent and you would like your children to stay with their grandmother rather than their father, the grandmother would be a "non-custodian parent." If you want to have the caregiver for your children be someone different than the other legally entitled parent, then you will need to lay the legal ground work for that decision now - before you deploy.

Sound complex? It can be. To address this complex type of situation, the Air Force now requires additional documentation from any member who wants to appoint a non-custodial parent as the caregiver. Members should consult with an attorney prior to designating a non-custodial parent as the short or long term caregiver for their dependents.

If you need to consult with an attorney to alter your family care plan, please call the legal office at 228-5242 to make an appointment. Active-duty members and their dependants can also come to our walk-in legal assistance on any Friday from 7:30 a.m.-8:30 a.m.