GI Bill and child support

[maryjo]

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

Hey yall. I hope everyone is doing well. I have really missed this place!

Just to catch up. My son and I finally moved into our own place. It took awhile longer than I planned but we eventually got in and settled.

Now, the reason I am here.

The very day I told my parents we were moving out I got a phone call from my ex. He said he had quit his job and decided to go to school. He is using the GI Bill and swears he will pay child support out of that. Its been about two months since he paid child support. The last I heard he was supposed to get his first check on the 8th and he would let me know more then.


Since quiting his job he did get a part time job but has not paid any child support out of that. I am not sure how he is getting away with that.

So my questions are these.

1.) Is it alright for him to pay child support out of the GI Bill?

2.) How has he gotten away without paying any child support from his part time job. Even unemployeed people still have child support taken from their unemployement checks.

3.) If he has an order, in Florida, to pay back child support...does that mean he is already "in the system" and if he gets behind they will contact him about it? I called about this right after he told me and the person I spoke with said he was in the system and it would come up as him being late. But she didnt seem too sure about what she was saying and I am not sure she understood what I was asking. She said they would send three late notices before they go after his bank account and then on to the driver's liscense. But I just dont know. I learned the hard way before that I cant just sit on this and wait for them to do something. (Let me clarify that I never got the chance to file through the department of revenue about this. I tried last year but they would not let me do it since he already had the case against me to get his child support lowered. So when I called to tell ask about him quiting his job I told her that I had tried and was allowed to do it but he does have a current order to pay 25 a month towards the back child support. Should I file through the DOR again?)

4.) Being that he was already paying arrears, (and being ONE week late put him right back where he was after 4 months of paying arrears...) what does that mean for him now? He is even further in the hole now than he was when we went to mediation this past summer. (I find it ironic how mad he got at me for claiming our son on my taxes this year since he assumed he was current "in the eyes of the court" because he had paid a few dollars of the back child support. And now he is even further behind than before.)

5.) I have no idea how much the GI Bill will give him. He said the first thing he was going to do was pay child support. Then again...he has said a lot of things that never happend. But if they dont give him enough to cover his child support, will he only be required to pay a little of it?


Thanks for helping me out. I do appreciate it.

 

[CJane]

Well, I have no idea how the GI Bill works, but generally speaking, the state doesn't care where the money to pay child support comes from, provided child support is paid. "They" are not going to FORCE him to have a "real job".

As far as why they're not collecting from his part time job, there are several reasons they might not be, starting with - they don't know he HAS a part time job.

Two months of non-payment is (again, generally speaking) not enough to get the state involved. Just not.

 

[Gracie3787]

As CJane said, the state doesn't care where the money is coming from, all they care about is that the payments are being made. So, yes, he can pay using the money he recieves from the GI bill.

The CSE does take time to get things done. Once they learn of any garnishable employment they will send an IDO to the employer. Do you know who the employer is?
If you do, contact the CSE and give them the info.
Also ask them to begin enforcement action.

 

[maryjo]

Gracie, I have another question.

I called yesterday to find out how far my ex is now behind. He is behind over 700 dollars just from the last two months but is still behind over 1400 from last summer when he was given an order to pay the arrearages at 25 dollars a month.

When he didnt repsond to my question of when he was going to start paying child support again (his check was supposed to be here on the 8th and I waited about 5 days before asking anything.) I let him know I knew how much he was behind...and let HIM know how much he was behind.

Tonight he finally texted me back and told me I cant count what he was behind last year because he already has an order to pay that. Well..when I called to find out how much he was behind, they are the ones who brought up the amount from last summer.

Why is it he thinks that money doesnt count? If he is behind, he is behind...right? Can he not be helf accountable for the 1400 plus he is behind from last year at all? If I tried to file with the DOR would they not take that into account?

I am just curious. He tried this at the beginning of the year with the taxes thing. Saying he was considered current "in the eyes of the court" because he was paying 25 a month towards his arrearages.

 

[Gracie3787]

Gracie, I have another question.

I called yesterday to find out how far my ex is now behind. He is behind over 700 dollars just from the last two months but is still behind over 1400 from last summer when he was given an order to pay the arrearages at 25 dollars a month.

When he didnt repsond to my question of when he was going to start paying child support again (his check was supposed to be here on the 8th and I waited about 5 days before asking anything.) I let him know I knew how much he was behind...and let HIM know how much he was behind.

Tonight he finally texted me back and told me I cant count what he was behind last year because he already has an order to pay that. Well..when I called to find out how much he was behind, they are the ones who brought up the amount from last summer.

Why is it he thinks that money doesnt count? If he is behind, he is behind...right? Can he not be helf accountable for the 1400 plus he is behind from last year at all? If I tried to file with the DOR would they not take that into account?

I am just curious. He tried this at the beginning of the year with the taxes thing. Saying he was considered current "in the eyes of the court" because he was paying 25 a month towards his arrearages.

When there is an order to pay arrears, it can get kinda fuzzy. Basically, if he is and has been paying the full amount of current and arrears, then techinically he would be correct, in that he would be "current" on the court order.

However, since he hasn't been paying the full court ordered amount, he is not current on the order.

His arrears are both what the balance is from the previous arrears and whatever amount of on-going support that is unpaid. so, if the balance on the previous arrears is $1,400 and the unpaid on-going support is $700, then the full arrears balance would be $2,100.

 

[maryjo]

That was what I thought about it. For some reason he thinks all that back child support no longer counts because he has an order to pay it.

The problem with that is that he only paid on it 3 or 4 months. Which means when he missed paying child support ONE time..he put himself right back where he was to begin with. And right now he is more than two months behind since that order was put in place.

I guess my question is that if I went to the DOR and reported it, would THEY take last year's arrearages into account or just what has accrued since the order was put in place? I would assume they would take both into account since when I called to find out how far behind he is, they didnt give me just the recent arrearages. They gave me BOTH. I know they wont do anything about child support enforcement until its so far behind but I dont know what that is.

 

[Gracie3787]

That was what I thought about it. For some reason he thinks all that back child support no longer counts because he has an order to pay it.

The problem with that is that he only paid on it 3 or 4 months. Which means when he missed paying child support ONE time..he put himself right back where he was to begin with. And right now he is more than two months behind since that order was put in place.

I guess my question is that if I went to the DOR and reported it, would THEY take last year's arrearages into account or just what has accrued since the order was put in place? I would assume they would take both into account since when I called to find out how far behind he is, they didnt give me just the recent arrearages. They gave me BOTH. I know they wont do anything about child support enforcement until its so far behind but I dont know what that is.

Yes, they take all arrears into account.

Your ex is wrong, he can still be held in contempt even though an order to pay arrears was issued:

61.17(3) The entry of a judgment for arrearages for child support, alimony, or attorney's fees and costs does not preclude a subsequent contempt proceeding or certification of a IV-D case for intercept, by the United States Internal Revenue Service, for failure of an obligor to pay the child support, alimony, attorney's fees, or costs for which the judgment was entered.

 

[maryjo]

I should just text him that. ROFL!!

Not only would he not believe it....he just wouldnt understand it!

Thanks for the help!!!!

 

[jimbean437]

it depends on how the GI Bill is dispersed. if checks from the government are being sent straight to the school the veteran is going to, it's not counted as income in any way. Here is wisconsin, where vets can go to the university of wisconsin system for free, and he/she receives the GI Bill as a monthly payment, then it IS counted as income and can be used when calculating child support. the important thing though, is that the vet can't be forced to use the GI Bill money just so the child support payment can go up.

 

[CJane]

it depends on how the GI Bill is dispersed. if checks from the government are being sent straight to the school the veteran is going to, it's not counted as income in any way. Here is wisconsin, where vets can go to the university of wisconsin system for free, and he/she receives the GI Bill as a monthly payment, then it IS counted as income and can be used when calculating child support. the important thing though, is that the vet can't be forced to use the GI Bill money just so the child support payment can go up.

But the question wasn't whether or not the GI Bill could be used as income to affect the support amount, but whether Dad could use the GI Bill to pay the child support he currently owes.

 

[jimbean437]

ooops...sorry, everyone was talking about using it to calculate...if he gets the GI bill sent to him personally, he's free to do with it what he wants. however, the only way to draw on the GI bill is if he's enrolled in school. the gov't won't let him draw on the GI bill though for the purpose of using it to pay child support...i hope i explained that well lol

 

[CJane]

ooops...sorry, everyone was talking about using it to calculate...if he gets the GI bill sent to him personally, he's free to do with it what he wants. however, the only way to draw on the GI bill is if he's enrolled in school. the gov't won't let him draw on the GI bill though for the purpose of using it to pay child support...i hope i explained that well lol

Sure, but in this scenario, I think that Dad is anticipating it working like a student loan or a grant. The money is sent to the school, but if there's any left after tuition, etc is paid, the school refunds that overage to the student to do whatever they wish with.

IF that's also the way the GI bill works, then Dad could conceivably use it to pay for school AND to pay child support in the absence of a full time job.

 

[jimbean437]

absolutely...it's just like student aid in that case...wutever's left over he can use as he needs. if he owes back child support, he can use wut's left to make payments toward paying that debt down.

 

[maryjo]

I just wanted to clarify that I wasnt sure if the GI Bill could be used towards anything other than education purposes. I dont trust anything my ex tells me so I wanted to make sure. If its used just like any other loan or grant then I get it.

I wasnt asking to calculate how much he owes because he has already screwed everything up in that department.

Quit a well paying job to move to Podunk City to live with his girlfriend and then couldnt find a decent job.

Has had a lost at least 4 jobs in the last 3 years.

Took a low paying job...and only ONE low paying job. Then complained that no one would help him pay his bills. Continually put in our son's head that the reason he didnt have any money is because he had to give it all to me.

Took me to court to have his child support lowered. Thought he was going to get it cut down to about 1/4th of what he was paying. He only got it lowered by about 1/3rd. But he was given an order to pay the back child support he owed at 25 dollars a month.

After a few months he quits his job to supposedly go to school full time. Guess he thinks he is special. He doesnt have to work and go to school. However, he did get a part time job and still hasnt paid child support in over two months.

He is supposedly working on paying child support. I cant wait to see if he pays for the whole month like he said he was going to, or only a week.

 

[jimbean437]

if he's going to school and receives money from the GI Bill thats left after paying bills directly to the school, he's free to do with it what he wants...if he CHOSES to use it to pay you child support, he can...however, he can't be FORCED to in that case, because, it's not a regular stream of income, it just happens to be what's left over from that semesters school bills. but, he can't just draw on the GI Bill to pay you child support...he HAS to be enrolled in school and money from the GI Bill HAS to go primarily to schooling...towards books, towards tuition, and to any other related schooling fees. THEN, and only then, if there's any left over, they MAY send him a check, or they may just roll it over to the following semester's fees. but if they DO send him a check, then he's free to use it how he wants.