All parents are financially responsible to some degree for their children, but military parents have particular duties when it comes to caring for their families. As such, several laws exist to make sure that the children of military parents receive adequate care.
The failure of military parents to follow these laws can lead to serious penalties. The following will review some of the things that you should make sure to do if you are a military parent.
Situations in Which Child Support is Necessary
Child support is required whenever a child’s parent is either no long-married or no longer living together. In situations where parents no longer live together, they often share parenting duties. The purpose of child support is to make sure that the child receives all of the financial support that they need.
Child support does not exist to provide an extra form of compensation to custodial parents. When a parent is a military member, the parent will likely be required to pay support to their child.
How Child Support is Calculated
Child support payment is determined based on the income of both spouses, the child’s needs, and many other important factors related to the care of a child.
Courts often encounter difficulties in deciding support-related issues. In many situations involving military parents and pending support resolution, courts will require interim child support payments. These interim payments will be received for the benefit of the child before the court has issued a final decision.
All members of the United States military are required to pay for their children, however, even if there is not a court order in place. The payment depends on the service member’s gross pay as well as their Basic Allowance for Housing. If a service member fails to meet payments, the other parent can send a notification to a commanding officer who can punish the military parent’s commanding officer, who will then punish the service member for failure to pay.
The Importance of Following Court Orders
After a court orders child support, any child support amounts required by the military will be overruled. From this point forward, all child support by the military parent will be handled in the same way as if the parent was not a service member.
Because paying support can be challenging if a parent is on active duty, it is possible to establish payments through the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, which will automatically withdraw the required amount at the appropriate time from the service member’s pay. Just like with interim child support, if the military parents fail to make these payments, they can face penalties from the parent’s commanding officer.
Speak with an Experienced Family Law Attorney
Being a military parent comes with many challenges. No matter the complication that you find yourself facing, an experienced attorney at Vayman & Teitelbaum P.C. today to schedule a case evaluation.