Military Divorce · Virginia

Deployed During Divorce? How the SCRA Can Put Your Case on Hold

By Alisa Chunephisal, Esq. · Founding Partner

Imagine being deployed overseas and learning that a divorce is moving forward back home without you, with deadlines you cannot meet and a hearing you cannot attend. That scenario is exactly what a federal law was written to prevent. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act lets a deployed servicemember press pause, so a case does not steamroll them while they are serving and unable to take part.

What the SCRA stay does

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, known as SCRA, protects servicemembers from civil legal proceedings moving against them while they cannot meaningfully respond. In a divorce, a servicemember whose duties keep them from participating can request a stay, a formal pause, of at least ninety days. The request explains how current duties prevent participation and when the member expects to be available.

The first stay of at least ninety days is generally granted when the requirements are met. A servicemember can ask for additional time beyond that, and the court decides whether to extend. The protection also guards against a default judgment, a loss that happens simply because one side did not show up.

What the stay does not do

A stay pauses the case. It does not erase it. The divorce is still coming, and the issues, property, support, custody, all still have to be resolved once the servicemember can take part. The SCRA buys time and fairness, not an exit.

The protection also is not automatic in every situation. The servicemember generally has to show that service genuinely affects their ability to participate, not merely that they would prefer to wait. Used honestly, the stay is powerful. Used as pure delay, it can wear thin with a court. For how these stays interact with where a case can even be filed, see our companion article on residency and domicile.

Using the SCRA the right way

The SCRA can be invoked by a deployed servicemember, and it can also matter to a civilian spouse who needs the case to keep moving. We handle both sides: requesting and supporting a stay when service truly prevents participation, and responding properly when a stay is raised. Either way, the goal is a fair process, not a weapon. For the federal rules across a military case, see our military divorce page, and for the Virginia divorce process, our divorce practice page.

"The SCRA buys a servicemember time and fairness. It does not make the divorce disappear."

Alisa Chunephisal, Esq. Founding Partner

Honest counsel: a stay is a pause, not an escape

I want servicemembers to know the SCRA has their back, and I want civilian spouses to know it is not a black hole that swallows their case forever. A stay pauses things so a deployed parent or spouse can take part fairly when they return. It does not end the divorce, and a court can see through a stay used only to stall. So we invoke it when service genuinely gets in the way, we support the request with real facts, and we keep the case ready to move the moment the member is available. Fairness in both directions is the whole point.

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