Divorce and BAH/COLA (not medicine related)

[DD214_DOC]

Quick question since there are tons of military types here. I would like confirmation about what I have been reading from someone who may know. I don't have time to hit the finance office this week to talk about it.

If one gets divorced but has dependent children, and the ex spouse takes physical custody and moves, the service member continues to collect the BAH-WITH rate if he pays child support, right? Does this also apply to COLA? I gather from what I have read that a SM will always have dependents if he has children, regardless of marital status.

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[Kingfisher]

Quick question since there are tons of military types here. I would like confirmation about what I have been reading from someone who may know. I don't have time to hit the finance office this week to talk about it.

If one gets divorced but has dependent children, and the ex spouse takes physical custody and moves, the service member continues to collect the BAH-WITH rate if he pays child support, right? Does this also apply to COLA? I gather from what I have read that a SM will always have dependents if he has children, regardless of marital status.

I don't know about COLA but for BAH, as long as you have them in DEERS and can claim them as dependants then you should get the higher rate.

 

[colbgw02]

Quick question since there are tons of military types here. I would like confirmation about what I have been reading from someone who may know. I don't have time to hit the finance office this week to talk about it.

If one gets divorced but has dependent children, and the ex spouse takes physical custody and moves, the service member continues to collect the BAH-WITH rate if he pays child support, right? Does this also apply to COLA? I gather from what I have read that a SM will always have dependents if he has children, regardless of marital status.

My best guess is that you would only get COLA for the kids based on their location, not yours. So, if you're in Honolulu but the kids are in BFE, West Texas, then you'll get COLA as if you had no kids.

Regarding BAH, I would google and learn about "BAH-DIFF", which might be applicable for you.

 

[Homunculus]

i have some experience in this area, lol.

dependents for DEERS don't necessarily equate to dependents for pay purposes. the military will always make you provide TRICARE and child support, but will not always pay you BAH with dependents. . . .

that being said, meeting the qualifications to get BAH with dependents is pretty easy. if someone pays decent child support (typically calculated by the state using parental income percentages) and has any sort of typical parenting plan-- ie, joint legal/physical custody with every other weekend and extended summer breaks, they should be able to claim full BAH w/ dependents no problem.

the thing is, no one *really* asks. no one is going to come track down where the kids are and when. booting the ex off of DEERS is straighforward, and that document doesn't normally have the nuts/bolts of the parenting plan-- just the type of legal/physical custody settled on. so if someone was just to leave things be no harm no foul. 😉

military JAG is not too helpful with this since family law varies state to state. the finance people deal with this fairly often though and should be a good resource.

--your friendly neighborhood practical finance caveman

 

[Homunculus]

more info. . .

From the JFTR

U10106 DEPENDENT SUPPORT

D. Legal Separation Agreement or Court Order Stating Support Amount. If there is a court order or legal separation agreement stating the support amount, a member must contribute to the dependent’s support the amount specified therein, but in no case may the support payments be less than the applicable BAH-DIFF rate.

1. When a member is divorced from a nonmember, and they share joint legal custody of a child, and the ex-spouse is awarded primary physical custody, then the member is a non-custodial parent for housing allowance purposes. If the member’s court-ordered child support is less than the applicable BAH-DIFF rate, and the member is not residing in, or assigned to, GOV’T QTRS, the member is only authorized a housing allowance at the without-dependents rate. However, a member who pays additional support to the ex-spouse having primary custody of the child(ren) so that the total child support provided is equal to or more than the BAH-DIFF rate, and who is not assigned to GOV’T QTRS, is authorized a housing allowance at the with-dependents rate.

From http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/faqbah.cfm#Q28

29. I am divorced with children, what is my BAH allowance?

It depends on whether or not you have legal and physical custody of your children, pay child support, and/or live in single-type government quarters. If you have legal and physical custody of your children, then you are authorized BAH at the with-dependent rate if not assigned adequate family-type government quarters. If your former spouse has custody and you are paying adequate child support (at least in an amount of your BAH-DIFF rate) you are authorized BAH at the with-dependent rate if not in government quarters or BAH-DIFF if assigned single-type government quarters.

From Army Regulation 608–99

1–7. Entitlement to military allowances
c. Where a soldier’s entitlement to BAH–WITH or BAH–DIFF is based solely on the financial support the soldier provides to a family member, the soldier’s entitlement to this allowance is only authorized if the monthly financial support provided by the soldier is at least the amount of BAH–DIFF. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) may cancel a soldier’s entitlement to BAH–WITH or BAH–DIFF and recoup past payments of BAH–WITH or BAH–DIFF when a soldier’s monthly financial support is less than BAH–DIFF regardless of the current residence of the supported family member, or, if the supported family member is a child, regardless of the soldier’s marital status when the child was born (see DOD 7000.14–R, para 260406B).

 

[DD214_DOC]

It's still pretty damn confusing. Given that the BAH-DIFF rate is like $200/mo, and my calculated child support payment is a tad over $2000/mo, I am guessing I will retain the BAH-WITH rate even though I will not have physical custody but retain partial legal custody.

 

[Homunculus]

It's still pretty damn confusing. Given that the BAH-DIFF rate is like $200/mo, and my calculated child support payment is a tad over $2000/mo, I am guessing I will retain the BAH-WITH rate even though I will not have physical custody but retain partial legal custody.

hypothetically, if one is to divorce a civilian spouse and is getting BAH with dependents, the divorce finalizing does not trigger anything that the military knows about. of course, the ex-spouse can attempt to but they will figure out quickly that the less money you get = the less child support/maintenance they can get. there is a cost to having a household setup for dependent children-- if you need an extra bedroom or two, you have to have it year round.

i don't know your specific information but i went through this and may be able to offer some advice. my first is get a good attorney. my second is go for joint physical (even if you don't have a great visitation schedule at first) and joint legal. trying to get it changed later is difficult, and you never know what your situation will turn into. i had a hard enough time just modifying child support (which was done under state statutes), i can't imaging trying to go back and argue why joint physical is now in the best interest for the dependent(s) when you weren't interested in it xx year(s) ago.

the finance piece is a good chunk of change. call finance and see what they say-- you can be on the up and up and get it (or have a slim chance of getting screwed a bit), or just plead ignorance and keep things how they are.

oh, and if they live elsewhere-- ie, getting TRICARE benefits in a different state or something-- that doesn't raise any eyebrows, either. in today's environment no one ever asks, and again, finance does not comb through DEERS to my knowledge.

hope things work out-- stick to your guns and don't let them wear you out, lol.

-- your friendly neighborhood happily remarried caveman

 

[chemist157]

How do they get tricare in another state (eg if ID expires how do you get a new one?)? I thought the sponsor had to be present to enroll them or get a new card.

 

[Homunculus]

How do they get tricare in another state (eg if ID expires how do you get a new one?)? I thought the sponsor had to be present to enroll them or get a new card.

they enroll in the new state. super easy if they don't cross regions. dependent IDs are easy-- go to nearest ID card office, get the paperwork-- there is a specific DA or DD form-- i don't remember the number currently, sign your portion, send to ex-spouse and they can go to any RAPIDS location and get the cards made. same process as when a servicemember is deployed and the family moves back home.

-- your friendly neighborhood say cheese caveman

 

[chemist157]

Thanks!