Pennsylvania House Bill HB414

Pennsylvania 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/30/25
• Refer: 1/30/25
• Refer: 6/25/25
• Report Pass: 6/26/25
• Engrossed: 6/26/25
• Refer: 6/30/25
• Refer: 9/10/25
• Report Pass: 10/6/25
• Enrolled: 10/21/25
• Chaptered: 10/27/25
• Passed: 10/27/25

Caption

An Act amending Titles 23 (Domestic Relations) and 51 (Military Affairs) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, enacting the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act; making repeals; an . . .d making editorial changes.

Summary

HB 414 enacts the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act in Pennsylvania and creates a new Chapter 46 in Title 51 governing custody and visitation issues when a parent is deployed on military service. The bill establishes rules for temporary custody arrangements during deployment, including parent-to-parent agreements, powers of attorney to delegate custodial responsibility to family members or spouses in limited circumstances, and court-ordered temporary custodial responsibility when parents cannot agree. It also sets out procedures for expedited hearings, testimony by electronic means, notice requirements, and the treatment of relocation and jurisdiction issues during deployment. The bill is designed to preserve the deploying parent’s relationship with the child while preventing deployment itself from being used as the sole basis to alter custody permanently. It requires that temporary arrangements generally end when the service member returns, reinstating the prior custody order unless the parties agree otherwise or a court orders a change under applicable law. It also allows courts to award caretaking authority, legal custody, or limited contact to nonparents with a close and substantial relationship to the child, and it provides for temporary child support orders where jurisdiction exists. The act repeals existing Title 51 provisions on custody during military deployment and replaces them with a more comprehensive framework. The overall sentiment reflected in the bill’s history is strongly supportive and noncontroversial. The measure advanced unanimously at every recorded stage, including committee reports and final passage in both chambers, with no recorded opposition votes. That voting pattern suggests broad bipartisan agreement that deployed service members and their families should have clearer, more uniform custody protections. There is little evidence of substantive contention in the available record, but the bill’s structure indicates the main policy balance it addresses: protecting deployed parents from losing custody rights because of military service while ensuring that any temporary custodial arrangement remains in the child’s best interest. Potential points of concern inherent in the bill include the scope of authority given to nonparents, the use of powers of attorney, and the interaction between temporary deployment-related orders and existing custody or relocation proceedings. However, no specific objections or amendments are reflected in the provided discussion or vote history.

Impact

HB 414 would amend Pennsylvania’s domestic relations and military affairs statutes by replacing the prior deployment-specific custody provisions in Title 51 with a new, more detailed Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act. It would also make conforming changes to Title 23 custody and relocation provisions so that deployment-related cases are handled under the new chapter. The bill affects courts, deployed service members, other parents, and certain nonparents or family members who may receive temporary custodial responsibility during deployment.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have enjoyed broad, unanimous support throughout the legislative process. Recorded votes in committee and on the floor were unanimous in both the House and Senate, with no nay votes. That pattern indicates a generally favorable view of the bill as a practical, family-supportive measure for military households.

Contention

No major contention is evident in the available transcripts or voting record, and no committee debate was provided. The underlying policy tradeoffs are between maintaining stability for children during a parent’s deployment and ensuring that temporary custody arrangements do not become de facto permanent changes. The bill also raises technical issues about notice, jurisdiction, electronic participation, and the role of nonparents, but none of these appear to have generated recorded opposition.