# § 3938. Child custody protection
**(a)** **Duration of temporary custody order based on certain deployments** If a court renders a temporary order for custodial responsibility for a child based solely on a deployment or anticipated deployment of a parent who is a servicemember, the court shall require that the temporary order shall expire not later than the period justified by the deployment of the servicemember.
**(b)** **Limitation on consideration of member’s deployment in determination of child’s best interest** If a motion or a petition is filed seeking a permanent order to modify the custody of the child of a servicemember, no court may consider the absence of the servicemember by reason of deployment, or the possibility of deployment, as the sole factor in determining the best interest of the child.
**(c)** **No Federal jurisdiction or right of action or removal** Nothing in this section shall create a Federal right of action or otherwise give rise to Federal jurisdiction or create a right of removal.
**(d)** **Preemption** In any case where State law applicable to a child custody proceeding involving a temporary order as contemplated in this section provides a higher standard of protection to the rights of the parent who is a deploying servicemember than the rights provided under this section with respect to such temporary order, the appropriate court shall apply the higher State standard.
**(e)** **Deployment defined** In this section, the term “deployment” means the movement or mobilization of a servicemember to a location for a period of longer than 60 days and not longer than 540 days pursuant to temporary or permanent official orders—
**(1)** that are designated as unaccompanied;
**(2)** for which dependent travel is not authorized; or
**(3)** that otherwise do not permit the movement of family members to that location.
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**Source Credit**: (Oct. 17, 1940, ch. 888, title II, § 208, as added Pub. L. 113–291, div. A, title V, § 566(a), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3384.)
## Editorial Notes
### Codification
Section was formerly classified to section 528 of the former Appendix to this title prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.