Child Support and the Military

Enforcement of child support with respect to active military personnel is different than that of enforcement of civilian child support. Initially, just locating your military spouse can be a difficult matter. After you have located your spouse, you must serve him or her according to state law. Also, the determination of child support is covered by state law, but the collection of child support is governed by military regulations.

Locating the Military Parent

Locating an active duty member of the Armed Service can sometimes be difficult. When looking for the military parent, you need to know their full name and social security number. You can contact the local armed services recruiting office, a former unit office or the World Wide Military Locator Services (WWML) to assist you in locating the parent. Recruiters may be able to provide the member's duty station. Additionally, military personnel usually leave a copy of their reassignment orders at their old unit when they depart. In all cases, you can obtain the work address of an active duty military member from WWML.

Service of Process

"Process" is a legal document that compels a person to appear in court or to comply with a court's demands. A summons is considered "process." Service of process is the delivery of the summons to the noncustodial parent in order to notify him or her of your claim for child support.

The easiest method for service of process is by U.S. mail, if your state law permits it. Check with your local bar association office or court to see if service of process via the US mail is allowed. If so, then a certified or registered letter sent to the absent parent's military address is an option. If your state requires personal service of process, you may be able to achieve this by having the appropriate state official, generally the sheriff that serves the area where the member is stationed, serve the military member. Military officials will often cooperate to make the member available for service of process. This procedure may not work, however, when the documents to be served are issued by a court outside the county or state where the installation is located.

Establishing Paternity

Paternity establishment is a civilian matter. A commander has no authority to order a blood sample or to even enforce compliance with a court order to submit a blood sample. There is no set policy for voluntary blood samples and the degree of cooperation may vary from location to location.

Determining Child Support

Military duty cannot be used as a method for avoiding family or child support obligations. However, the determination of the amount of support is considered a civilian matter. Each state has different child support guidelines to determine the amount of support that the custodial parent is entitled to receive. The military parent's pay and allowances should be considered in the determination of child support. It may be appropriate to also consider other factors such as nontaxable pay, allowances and benefits. To best determine the member's income, you will want copies of monthly pay statements called Leave and Earning Statements (LES), rather than an income tax return.

Collecting Child Support

The collection of child support from the military parent is governed by military regulations. The military regulations generally require that the military parent pay child support as ordered by the court. Some branches of the military actually make it a crime if the military parent fails to honor their support obligation. The military parent can comply with their support obligation by way of voluntary allotment, paying the obligation, involuntary allotment or by garnishment.

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