Miscellaneous

Every Court Is Veteran's Court

By Anne Skove, Esq.

The veterans' court getting the most ink is located in Buffalo, NY. But do all such cases end up in the so-called "speciality courts" for which those courts were designed? Of course not.

What happens to veterans in courts everywhere else? Rather than cover the veterans' court yet again, we want to call attention to everyday cases in everyday courts, some of which happen to involve veterans.

Take your typical dissolution. Only it's not so typical -- mom has been deployed multiple times over the past several years. The couple has a son. The father works an hour away from home, so the paternal grandparents become de facto caretakers.

The mother returns. The reunited family does not stay that way long -- let's guess that stress, unmet expectations on all sides, money problems, and undiagnosed mental health issues contribute to the breakup.

Is this case going to veteran's court? No, the family proceeds to juvenile and domestic relations court in, say, Virginia Beach. (This is pretend, btw, but it could happen.)

Are the judges, mediators, deputy clerks, etc., aware of the situation? Probably -- they've seen it time and again living, as they do, in a military area. Sure the tables appear to be turned -- here the "military wife" is the one being deployed -- but we would guess it's not an unheard-of scenario.

So how does the ordinary court deal with the parties? Are they able to apply what they've experienced day in and day out to make things run more smoothly for this particular case, the latest in a trend? Does their knowledge accumulate, allowing them to handle each case better than the last?

Or do they keep on digging the same holes, perhaps being insensitive to the "stay-at-home" dad, perhaps blaming (even indirectly) the mother for taking on such a high-impact job, perhaps missing underlying (or even obvious) issues (PTSD, attachment, inter-generational conflict, gender bias of any kind, etc.)?

What about more basic problems -- custody, when one parent could be moved around without much notice? How does the slow pace of military benefits affect the support agreement? What about those grandparents? What if estate planning comes up, as an aside? Does the lawyer for the military spouse require any special knowledge?

One way judges, lawyers, and court staff can rise to the occasion is to talk amongst themselves. Whether formally or in-, sharing experiences helps people recognize trends, issues, and solutions that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Another step in the right direction is to educate themselves about the issues. Those who are new to a military area, for example, can read up on military matters, visit families, talk to their new neighbors. Take a JAG to lunch!

Whatever side of war or peace we find ourselves on -- red or blue, elite or blue-collar -- we all live in the same country asking the ultimate sacrifice from a few volunteers. That's reason enough to try to figure out what goes on in hearts and minds and households, even (especially?) for those of us not working in a designated veteran's court.

New veterans' courts are popping up in Tulsa and Maricopa County (Phoenix).

See Interviewing and Counseling Military Service and Family Members in Family Law Cases, Law Offices of Donald L. Williams (September 8, 2005); Preparing the Military Client to Deploy, Mark Sullivan and Lori Kroll, from GP Solo: The Legal Face of War (no date because ABA publications are apparently timeless!); and the GAO's Military and Veterans Health Care and Disability Benefits topic collection.

See also Hofstra Anti-War Protesters Plead Not Guilty, Ann Givens, Newsday (November 11, 2008).

Within these virtual walls see Veterans' Court Update (May 8, 2008), and Old Problems, New Venue: Buffalo's Veterans' Court (April 29, 2008).

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on November 11, 2008 (boomark / email).