Question:
I have a question. Both myself and my ex-husband served in the military and we both have service connected disability ratings. Long story short, he is refusing to pay child support or file his taxes in the past 6-7 years. I filed for an apportionment because I currently do not receive anything for my child and I know the child support office are not able to garnish any of the VA Disability payments. I have been in appeals now for almost two years now and the VA call center is less than supportive when I inquire the status. Last time I spoke to my ex, he had a full time job, his VA Comp, and monthly stipend for his GI Bill, but will not voluntarily send the extra portion for his child because he will not benefit from it. This was the same explanation he told a relative about not filing his tax returns. Is there anything else that I can do since I keep getting vague information about the status via phone call and I have submitted everything including the arrears from Child Support.
Jim's Reply:
Your best bet is to return to court and seek an increase in the amount of support he's obligated to pay. If you'll file that paperwork yourself, you probably don't even need a lawyer...most family courts will provide forms and so on. Once you've done that you'll have new stipulations to work with and you can use those to get the attention of VA and other child support enforcement agencies. Forcing these issues back in front of the judge is the single best way to get results