I am DoD Army civilian, am deployable to Iraq or anywhere else in the world up to 4 month rotations. I am a father of two, my son is currently in the Army at age 17, will be 18 in Oct. My daughter currently 15, will be 16 in Nov, lives with me here in Clarksville, Tn. I have physical custody, with joint custody with their mother. Their mother lives in Fl with her new husband, in which my daughter does not like him that well. My daughter is a good student in school, and if I come down on orders to deploy she is concerned that she will have to move to Florida for 4 months to stay with her mother. My concern is that it will disrupt her school work, her friendships, and her every day routines, with the exception of me be deployed. I have made arrangements for a responsible female adult, not married, nor dating to stay with her in my home during the time of deployment only. Her mother does not like the idea because she does not know the woman, other than what i have told her about her, in other words she wants my daughter in Fl for the four months so she does not have to pay child support during that time. My daughter has expressed her feelings to her mother about staying here in school and near her friends, and at this day and age, and her age, disruption to a teenage girl or boy can be damaging. If she was to stay here with my friend in my own home, the only disruption to her daily routine would be me not being here, but having someone else being here. All medical, emergency info, phone numbers and everything has been provided so if there is a problem she or my friend can contact her mother immediatley. The school in Fl that she would have to attend may or may not be on the same grading rotation, have the curriclar schedule outside the core classes, and it is only for four months. Pulling her out of the middle of the school year for four months, to attend another school, then bringing her back to her school here when I return, is damaging to her routines, not to mention to her psyhcologically. Also she only sees her mother one week at Christmas and one or two weeks during the summer on a routine basis, by her choice, and they do not get along most of the time she is there. I encourage her to talk with her mother and to see her when she can, but in this case I do not think its a good idea to disrupt her schooling for the short amount of time that I will be gone, and/ or her grades that could possibly suffer due to her fitting in a strange place/ school for a few months only. My daughter is almost 16 years old and her desire is to stay here at her home supervised by a responsible female, a parent that also has a daughter my daughters age. This will also not disrupt her daily life with her friends, pets, comfortable living in her own home, and attending her own school. Is there any advice or laws that you could tell me to help my situation?

It is a difficult situation because any other person who supervises your kid may want support from the mother who would not want to pay it to them. i suggest contacting a local attorney to see about getting the child emancipated, so that she can live wherever she wants.