Military DIvorce and Support Obligations: Involuntary Allotments

In a military divorce, there are only two ways to involuntarily take money from a service person's pay for spousal support (alimony) or child support: garnishment and allotment. Both methods require legal action. An earlier post discussed garnishment. This time, we will talk about allotment.

Statutory allotments for child support and alimony are governed by 42 U.S.C. 665 and 32 C.F.R. Part 54. These authorize allotments from active duty military pay in order to satisfy child support and alimony obligations. It must be both: alimony alone will not qualify. These statutory allotments may only be paid from active duty pay.

A statutory allotment may be initiated when child support and alimony payments are at least 2 months in arrears. The allotment is initiated by furnishing the Defense Finance and Accounting (DFAS) Center a written notice from a court or state agency administering the child support program under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. The notice must be signed by an authorized official and must contain the following information:

• A statement that the person signing the request is an agent or attorney of a state that has a Title IV-D plan with authority under the plan to collect money owed by a military member as child support or child support and alimony. The request may also be signed by an agent of the court issuing the order.
• The statement must include the military member's full name, SSN, the dates that the current support terminates for each child, and the exact name and address of the allotment payee. The statement must also show the total amount of the allotment to be taken and specify the amount to be paid each month for current support and the arrearage.
• The statement must be supported by a recently certified copy of the original court order awarding support and a court order which specifies the amount of the arrears and that payments be made to liquidate such arrears.

Allotments cannot exceed 50 percent of a member's pay and allowances if the member is supporting a second family. If the member is not supporting a second family, the allotment may not exceed 60 percent. The percentage may be increased by 5 percent if the arrearage is 12 weeks or more.

After DFAS receives the request, DFAS notifies the member's commander. The commander will then notify and counsel the member. The member will have 30 days to cure the arrearage or to submit evidence that the arrearage is an error. If not, DFAS will ordinarily implement the allotment 30 days after the member's notification. Payments will begin at the end of the month in which the allotment is to be effective.

Of course, as your experienced, hard fighting, straight talking Phoenix divorce lawyer, I can take care of all of this and more for you. So if you are facing divorce, child support, or child custody issues in the Phoenix area, contact us right away for a free consultation.