Legal Question in Veterans Law in Virginia

Re: chnative american

The federal Indian Child Welfare Act(ICWA)enacted by Congress in 1978 does not apply to divorcing parents disputing custody of children nor to any other custody disputes between parents in state courts involving children of Indian parentage, nor does it in any way confer exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate such disputes upon Tribal Courts.

Therefore, in answer to your questions, yes, a non-Indian father could be awarded full custody of his part Indian child(depending upon the many factors which a court would be required to consider in such a matter)and there would be no Native American laws that could effectively intervene to prevent such an award of custody merely on the basis that the father was a not a Native American of demonstrated Indian heritage.