§ 684. Emergency motion to modify; permanent modification

(a) Upon the return of the deploying parent, either parent may file a motion to modify the temporary order on the grounds that compliance with the order will result in immediate danger of irreparable harm to the child, and may request that the court issue an ex parte order. The deploying parent may file such a motion prior to his or her return. The motion shall be accompanied by an affidavit in support of the requested order. Upon a finding of irreparable harm based on the facts set forth in the affidavit, the court may issue an ex parte order modifying parental rights and responsibilities and parent-child contact. If the court issues an ex parte order, the court shall set the matter for hearing within 14 days from the issuance of the order.

(b) Nothing in this chapter shall preclude the court from hearing a motion for permanent modification of parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child contact prior to or upon return of the deploying parent. The moving party shall bear the burden of showing a real, substantial, and unanticipated change in circumstances and that resumption of the parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child order in effect before the deployment is no longer in the child’s best interests. Absence created by deployment or mobilization or the potential for future deployment or mobilization shall not be the sole factor supporting a real, substantial, and unanticipated change in circumstances pursuant to section 668 of this title. (Added 2009, No. 69 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. March 3, 2010; amended 2017, No. 11, § 41.)