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disability and child support

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sarah12

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? wv


My husband pays support. He's also a disabled vet. He has some brain damage, an enlarged knee cap that locks up constantly which causes him to fall, ptsd, and some other severe mental issues from Iraq. So he's not just playing the system.

He just got granted social security disability. But we aren't sure how much money he will be getting from social security. The VA does not allow garnishments for much of anything including child support and he's not been getting his full VA amount due to a lump sum of money the army gave him when he was medically dc'd. The VA holds a portion of a persons check back until they have collected the money the army paid. So as of now his support payments have been 25.00 a month because the VA only gives him 220.00 on the first of each month. And because there's nothing the courts could do about garnishment he's been paying with certified checks. I know that's nothing but he has no other income. I however do work and have been paying all the bills with my income. But in March 08 his VA disability goes up to 2100.00 a month.

And also I know that a dependants children get money from a parent being on SS disability. My step brother gets 2500.00 a month for being disabled. His two girls each get 850.00 a month on top of what he gets. So would that happen here? I'm assuming they would calculate both the VA disability and social security disability and have him pay support from the lump sum. Which check would they garnish it from? And would his other non custodial child get a separate check from social security as well? Or is that just for custodial children? I'm wondering if his non custodial child gets a seperate check from SS why that can't be considered child support and he not pay anything extra from his disability money.

Oh another question.
He's supposed to provide medical insurance. But there is nothing in the court order about which parent is to pay for uninsured expenses. Because the Judge knew as long as he's 100% disabled with the VA that his children get free medical care and medicine from any VA hospital/clinic. His ex has been taking his son to a doctor that isn't with the VA and wanting him to pay for it. If it doesn't say he has to pay in the court order then does he? The nearest VA clinic is only 30 miles from his sons mother. And he's even offered to reimburse her gas mileage but she refuses to go to a VA clinic.
 
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BL

Senior Member
I'm not sure if he can collect VA. Benefit's and SSDI at the same time .

You don't say if he's in arrears ?

If the payments are being made , why worry about garnishment .

If he starts receiving SSDI , yes the children will be entitled to benefits ( divided ) .

If you were to file for a modification because of a substantial increase , VA , SS income is taken into account , even though VA & SSI are exempt . SSDI could be garnished , but only for arrears .

The court will take into account the SSDI benefits the children receive .

You can't get any of the VA, lump sum from garnishment . It's exempt .

Note: If he has medical ins. coverage for the children , he's meant his obligation .
 

sarah12

Junior Member
I'm not worried about garnishment as in punnishment for non payment. The Judge told him the court usually requires all support payments to be made through garnishment. And he of course couldn't because of the VA. I just wondered if SS was subject to garnishment as a means of regularily paying support. He really would rather have garnishment if the dependant entitlement isn't enough and he is ordered to pay more. That way the support would be automatically taken out and he wouldn't have to worry about writing checks or anything like that.

Ok yeah there are some arrears. Only from the time support services were trying to gather his info and take him to court. His ex got some tanf during that time. But I've been paying on those. There is a payment arrangement in place. They didn't say anything about garnishment for those. I'm assuming since he's paying them off the court is ok with it. Yes he can get social security and veterans benefits. They only took into consideration his earned income. In which he doesn't earn any income. So he financially qualified. And the doctors from SS disability that did his evaluation agreed he qualified medically. But he uses the VA hospitals.

Good to know he's not responsible for medical bills that are outside of the VA. So ALL of his children should get a check from SS also? And I am not sure if I read your response correctly but the dependant check from SS will suffice as child support and he won't have to pay any more support from his own disability compensation? Keep in mind though that the VA disability can't be garnished so they would have to account for that somewhere? Where?
 
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BL

Senior Member
I'm not worried about garnishment as in punnishment for non payment. The Judge told him the court usually requires all support payments to be made through garnishment. And he of course couldn't because of the VA. I just wondered if SS was subject to garnishment as a means of regularily paying support. He really would rather have garnishment if the dependant entitlement isn't enough and he is ordered to pay more. That way the support would be automatically taken out and he wouldn't have to worry about writing checks or anything like that.

Ok yeah there are some arrears. Only from the time support services were trying to gather his info and take him to court. His ex got some tanf during that time. But I've been paying on those. There is a payment arrangement in place. They didn't say anything about garnishment for those. I'm assuming since he's paying them off the court is ok with it. Yes he can get social security and veterans benefits. They only took into consideration his earned income. In which he doesn't earn any income. So he financially qualified. And the doctors from SS disability that did his evaluation agreed he qualified medically. But he uses the VA hospitals.

Good to know he's not responsible for medical bills that are outside of the VA. So ALL of his children should get a check from SS also? And I am not sure if I read your response correctly but the dependant check from SS will suffice as child support and he won't have to pay any more support from his own disability compensation? Keep in mind though that the VA disability can't be garnished so they would have to account for that somewhere? Where?
If or when there is a modification , sometimes courts find that the benifits for the children from their Parents' entitlement is sufficient enough for child support payments , if not they'll make an order accordingly .

Yes, all dependant children qualify under his disability , as I stated divided equally .


Can Social Security benefits be garnished to pay a debt? Answer
Section 207 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 407) protects Social Security benefits from assignment, levy, or garnishment. However, the law provides five exceptions:
Section 459 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 659) allows Social Security benefits to be garnished to enforce child support and/or alimony obligations; Section 6334 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 6334 (c)) allows benefits to be garnished to collect unpaid Federal taxes;
Section 3402 (P) of the Internal Revenue Code allows beneficiaries to elect to have a percentage of their benefits withheld and paid to the Internal Revenue Service to satisfy their Federal income tax liability for the current year;
The Debt Collection Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-134) allows benefits to be withheld and paid to another Federal agency to pay a non-tax debt the beneficiary owes to that agency: and
The Tax Payer Relief Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-34) authorizes the Internal Revenue Service to collect overdue federal tax debts of beneficiaries by levying up to 15 percent of each monthly payment until the debt is paid.
The Social Security Administration's responsibility for protecting benefits against legal process and assignment usually ends when the beneficiary is paid. However, once paid, benefits continue to be protected under section 207 of the Act only as long as they are identifiable as Social Security benefits. This applies to money in a bank account where the only payments into the account are from direct deposit of Social Security benefits.
NOTE: Supplemental Security Income payments cannot be levied or garnished.
 

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