U.S. Marine loses custody of child while serving in Iraq
10:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16, 2007
Some service men and women can't fight for their kids because they're fighting in Iraq. Child custody battles are a harsh reality for thousands of single parents in the military. One United State Marine from Ottawa, Kansas, lost custody of his son, while deployed to Fallujah.
When he left for Iraq, Marine Corporal Levi Bradley was sure of only one thing; his little boy Tyler would be home safe in Kansas, well looked after by Bradley's own mom.
That's the deal he had made with his estranged wife, Amber. In a signed letter, she gave him sole custody, with the understanding they would work out the details during their divorce proceedings when he got back.
But while he was away, Amber, who refused interview requests, had a change of heart. She wanted Tyler and couldn't wait.
There are 140,000 single parents in the military, and like an untold number, Corporal Bradley was fighting two wars; one in Iraq, the other in family court. This despite a federal ruling intended to freeze civil court proceedings during deployment. It's called The Service Members Civil Relief Act and it's supposed to give active duty service members a minimum 90 day extension. Bradley's attorney applied for a delay under this act, but the custody hearing went on without him. The judge ruled the act does not apply in child custody fights, citing instead an obligation to consider the best interests of the child.
Corporal Bradley appealed. But as the official court recording shows, the lawyer for his soon to be ex-wife argued his deployment was not as an issue.
“Here he is defending his entire country, but we're not allowing him to come home and defend himself,” says Bradley’s lawyer, Jean Ann Uvodich.
“If they said that if you got out of the Marines today, then you could have your kids back, I would be out in a heartbeat,” says Bradley.
In the end, the judge awarded Bradley's estranged wife joint custody. While Corporal Bradley was fighting in Iraq, the judge ruled it was best for his son, Tyler, to live with his mother and not with his paternal grandmother.
Comments
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May. 20, 2008 at 11:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)u_tell_lies (anonymous)
THIS IS THE ESTRANGED WIFE THAT YOU TELL FALSE THINGS ABOUT IN THIS RIDICULOUS ARTICLE!!! YES, THIS IS ME, AMBER!!
For one thing, that paper was FALSLY SIGNED!!! YES FALSE!!! I was NOT represented by a lawyer, and we had left on vacation so we could work things out! HIS LAWYER-whom seriously should consider working a little bit harder on getting a degree- told me that by signing that paper that i was just purly saying that WHILE we were gone that she could provide medical treatment for my child IF NEEDED! SHE( the lawyer ) should have known better, that it's against the law to have any one sign a LEGAL document without being represented by a lawyer, not to mention that i was not 18 at the time the paper was signed, and ALSO that she told me false information.
I am so sick of having my name plastered all over these articles stating that i'm the bad guy, and that its all my fault...well jesus people if you only knew the TRUE story....you see it as a POOR MARINE who lost custody of his child, when you are unaware of the infidelity that happened with Mr. Bradley while he was on his base...yes HE is the reason we got the divorce, NOT ME!! HE was unfaithful not me! He never wanted anything to do with my son, he has never been there as a father, and IN FACT he wanted me to get an abortion when we found out that i was PREGNANT!!!
FOR THE RECORD!!!!!!!!!! NO ONE EVER CALLED OR APPROACHED ME ABOUT BEING INTERVIEWED!! I WOULD HAVE ACCEPTED!!! BEFORE YOU DO A FULL ON BIOGRAPHY ABOUT SOMEONE, MAYBE YOU SHOULD CONSIDER DIGGING A LITTLE BIT DEEPER!!!!
IF YOU WANT TO CONTACT ME FOR THE REAL INFORMATION YOU ARE MORE THAN WELCOME!!!
ambs_atj@hotmail.com....i'll await for your reply....
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