How can Child Support take all of my SSDI income and leave me with nothing?

[justbyteme]

What is the name of your state? ND
To Whom It May Concern:
I am permanently disabled. I just started to recieve SSDI. Child Support has taken all my income, backpay and all! Isn't there a limit to what Child Support can take? I have lost all help for housing due to SSDI. Now I don't where I will live next month or at all! I am not supposed to be under this kind of stress, Doctor's orders! This is not right! Child Support should not be able to withhold or touch Disability payments for people who are permanently disabled and have no other hope of income! There should be a law against it! I have contacted SS, Child Support, FHA, Social Services and my Senator. I am about to lose it! No help yet! Can somone point me in the right direction?
Sincerely,
justbyteme

[BL]

You don't say if you were in arrears , or not , and for how much ?

When you first became disabled , did you file for a modification of Child support ?

If not , why not ?

Are your children receiving dependant benifits from your disability entitlement ?

If not why not ?

If so , again have you filed for a modification , and supplied that info. ?

You should have been given a notice there were going to be a garnishment , and you could have filed for a child support modification .

Question
Can Social Security benefits be garnished to pay a debt?

Answer
Section 207 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 407) Â 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.[/quote]

[db55063]

This is exactly what my brother is going through in MN. He is permanently disabled after a stroke, he just found out today the reason he hasn't received his disability is because Ramsey County child support has taken 100% of the last three months. He has no place to live and not a dime to his name, they have left him virtually penniless. There was not any kind of a notice that there was going to be a garnishment. He was never given an opportunity to contest the decision. When he first became disabled he had filed for a child support modification . He filed the modification , and supplied that info. His child is receiving dependant benefits from his disability entitlement. He did everything that was required. What should he do?