GI Bill, Pell Grant, and Child Support

[normankemper]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I am a veteran and I live in Florida. I pay $729 per month in child support. I am a full time student and I receive student loans, the Pell Grant, and the GI bill. My child support is currently based on my monthly VA Disability and my 30 hour a week part time job. My ex-wife want to take me back to court to have the amount of support I pay increased based on my student loans, Pell Grant, and my GI bill.
Can anyone help me by telling me where, in any law, it says that the GI Bill and the Pell grant will not be considered as income in calculating child support? I've searched everywhere and have hit a big dead end. I have been through enough court hearings to know that if you can not provide case-law or proof that it cannot, then the judge will not listen. The judge will not care if I simply say "It isn't fair."

Thank You,
Norman

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I am a veteran and I live in Florida. I pay $729 per month in child support. I am a full time student and I receive student loans, the Pell Grant, and the GI bill. My child support is currently based on my monthly VA Disability and my 30 hour a week part time job. My ex-wife want to take me back to court to have the amount of support I pay increased based on my student loans, Pell Grant, and my GI bill.
Can anyone help me by telling me where, in any law, it says that the GI Bill and the Pell grant will not be considered as income in calculating child support? I've searched everywhere and have hit a big dead end. I have been through enough court hearings to know that if you can not provide case-law or proof that it cannot, then the judge will not listen. The judge will not care if I simply say "It isn't fair."

Thank You,
Norman

Student loan absolutely CANNOT be considered as income for child support purposes. I doubt if Pell Grants can be considered either. I am not sure however about the income that you recieve under the GI bill.

How many children are involved in your 729.00 child support?

 

[normankemper]

I have three children ages 16, 9, and 6.

 

[LdiJ]

I have three children ages 16, 9, and 6.

That is kind of low for three children...particularly with one of them being 16.

The only thing that I can tell you for certain is that the student loans will not be considered, because they are not income. You have to pay them back.

However, if a judge finds that you are voluntarily underemployed, the judge could impute a higher income for you, even without taking any of those items into consideration.

I am all for a parent going to school, even full time without working at all, as long as they can still provide for their children adequately from non working sources.

 

[candg918]

OP is a disabled vet. It is quite possible that he is unable physically perform his prior work and thus reeducation is essential.

 

[Gracie3787]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I am a veteran and I live in Florida. I pay $729 per month in child support. I am a full time student and I receive student loans, the Pell Grant, and the GI bill. My child support is currently based on my monthly VA Disability and my 30 hour a week part time job. My ex-wife want to take me back to court to have the amount of support I pay increased based on my student loans, Pell Grant, and my GI bill.
Can anyone help me by telling me where, in any law, it says that the GI Bill and the Pell grant will not be considered as income in calculating child support? I've searched everywhere and have hit a big dead end. I have been through enough court hearings to know that if you can not provide case-law or proof that it cannot, then the judge will not listen. The judge will not care if I simply say "It isn't fair."

Thank You,
Norman

The CS guidelines are in 61.30 of the statutes at Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : flsenate.gov

Your VA disabilty income can be used, however neither your student loans nor your pell grant can be used.

Print out the laws and take them to court with you. Then, it will be up to the other side to bring case law that says the student loans or pell grants can be used.

Unless Pell grants have changed, I know that in the past the grant paid the tuition and books and nothing else and the grant reciepient didn't recieve any actual funds from it.

 

[Artemis_ofthe_Hunt]

OP is a disabled vet. It is quite possible that he is unable physically perform his prior work and thus reeducation is essential.

Where'd you get that? Did I miss something somewhere?

 

[CourtClerk]

Where'd you get that?

From here:

. I am a full time student and I receive student loans, the Pell Grant, and the GI bill. My child support is currently based on my monthly VA Disability ...

One would think that you couldn't collect VA disability unless you were disabled. LOL

 

[candg918]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I am a veteran and I live in Florida. I pay $729 per month in child support. I am a full time student and I receive student loans, the Pell Grant, and the GI bill. My child support is currently based on my monthly VA Disability and my 30 hour a week part time job. My ex-wife want to take me back to court to have the amount of support I pay increased based on my student loans, Pell Grant, and my GI bill.
Can anyone help me by telling me where, in any law, it says that the GI Bill and the Pell grant will not be considered as income in calculating child support? I've searched everywhere and have hit a big dead end. I have been through enough court hearings to know that if you can not provide case-law or proof that it cannot, then the judge will not listen. The judge will not care if I simply say "It isn't fair."

Thank You,
Norman

See highlighted quote

 

[Artemis_ofthe_Hunt]

From here:

One would think that you couldn't collect VA disability unless you were disabled. LOL

See highlighted quote

How'd I miss that????

 

[LdiJ]

From here:

One would think that you couldn't collect VA disability unless you were disabled. LOL

Actually, you can collect partial or full VA disability even if you are able to work. They have a whole formula that they go by to determine that. So, the fact that someone is collecting VA disability does not necessarily make them disabled under the same standards that it would take to claim Social Security Disability, for example.

My brother in law, receives maximum VA disability pay, plus a whole lot of other bennies because he is wheelchair bound. The military paid for him to go to school and he makes a decent salary as an accountant, but he still recieves full VA disability benefits.

 

[CourtClerk]

Actually, you can collect partial or full VA disability even if you are able to work.

No one said they weren't able to work. What I said is that one can ASSUME that if you are collecting disability you are disabled.

Signed,
Someone who is technically disabled and still works full time.
Also the child of a disabled veteran who ran his own business until he retired.

Yes, I know the ins and outs of disability.

 

[Proserpina]

Actually, you can collect partial or full VA disability even if you are able to work. They have a whole formula that they go by to determine that. So, the fact that someone is collecting VA disability does not necessarily make them disabled under the same standards that it would take to claim Social Security Disability, for example.

My brother in law, receives maximum VA disability pay, plus a whole lot of other bennies because he is wheelchair bound. The military paid for him to go to school and he makes a decent salary as an accountant, but he still recieves full VA disability benefits.

Who said anything about working?

You seem to be somewhat off track here, L.

 

[normankemper]

I appreciate the debate into my disability status as a veteran, however that was not part of the question. I was asking for help in determining if the GI bill could be considered income based on any known law.

Veterans disability is based on a percentage of overall injury. During my ten years of service I was injured and upon release from service and given a 60% disability rating. VA disability and Social Security Disability are two totally separate entities. The rating does not preclude someone from working, in fact the VA make it a priority to help disabled veterans find work or re-educate them to find new careers. But again, the meager amount that I receive from the VA is already included in the calculations and was not in question.

I believed this forum was intended to give help and advice to individuals in need. I am asking for that help and advice. This is not about evading the law or finding loopholes to keep from paying more support. This is about paying my fair share. If it was about lowering my support then I would have taken advantage of the 40% rule which would have lowered my support to $350 per month because the kids live with me for half of the year. I opted out of that because I know that amount is unrealistic. So please, if anyone has some solid advice on the GI bill, could you please let me know.

Respectfully,
Norman

 

[nextwife]

The CS guidelines are in 61.30 of the statutes at Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : flsenate.gov

Your VA disabilty income can be used, however neither your student loans nor your pell grant can be used.

Print out the laws and take them to court with you. Then, it will be up to the other side to bring case law that says the student loans or pell grants can be used.

Unless Pell grants have changed, I know that in the past the grant paid the tuition and books and nothing else and the grant reciepient didn't recieve any actual funds from it.

Gracie gave you the answer in post #6.

If you have 50% possession, the $700 plus is not low. You and mom are incurring similar support expenses. As Gracie stated, money borrowed is not "income", it is owed back to a third party. You have already also addressed the Pell grant.