MILITARY SERVICES
As a service member, or spouse or former spouse of one, you have unique child support needs. All branches of the armed forces offer parenting programs and resources to help military families.
We know that many of our parents and caretakers may be called to active duty in the United States’ military. If you are, you are protected under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act . The purpose of this law is to allow military personnel to give their full attention to the defense of our nation by temporarily stopping legal actions that may impact their rights. Read the Notice to All Parents Deploying Out of State for more information or contact the agency handling your case.
Military Protections
Some of the protections you may be entitled to are:
Stay of Proceedings
You may be able to place court actions on hold for a certain period of time if you cannot go to court due to military service.
Stay of Execution
You can request that the court stop the execution of a judgment, attachment, or garnishment order if you show that military service prevented you from complying with the judgment.
Expedited Changes
If you pay child support or are receiving child support payments, and are being deployed out-of-state, you may request a review of the support order before you deploy. It’s possible the amount may be changed.
Interest Reduction
You can ask for the interest rate on past due support owed prior to your deployment to be reduced to 6%for the duration of your deployment. You must prove that your deployment has a “material effect” on your ability to pay the state-mandated interest rate of 10%. This would be the case if you were earning more before your deployment.
Debt Reduction
The Military Debt Reduction Program allows for qualifying debt owed to the government to be reduced in certain cases. Eligibility is limited to a Reservist or a member of the National Guard whose income decreased due to activation to military service.
Recently Activated National Guard or Military Reservist
For assistance or to find out more about your rights, contact your JAG Officer or the Family Law Facilitator in the county where you are stationed or living. If you owe child support or are receiving child support payments and are being deployed, and you will experience a change in income based on your activation, you can ask for a review for possible modification of the child support order before you deploy. Here’s how:
If your support order is being handled by a child support agency
- Download and complete a Notice of Deployment – Request for Review of Child Support Order
- Get a copy of your Deployment Orders
- Get a copy of your Leave and Earnings Statement
- Download and fill out an Income and Expense Declaration
- Get copies of your paycheck stubs for the last two months
- Get copies of your most recent W-2 forms
Then, submit all documents to the agency that is handling your support order.
Within five (5) business days of receiving your request, the agency will review your case and, if you qualify, they will file a motion with the court to change the support order.
Please note that the review may result in your paying more, paying less, or no change at all to the child support order.
If your support order is private (not getting services from a child support agency)
- Download and complete a Notice of Deployment – Request for Review of Child Support Order
- Download and complete a Request to Modify a Support Order
- File the packet directly with the court
- Serve the other party to the order
The forms include instructions on filling them out and how to file them with the court and “serve” the other party.
If possible, the court will schedule a hearing before your date of deployment. If the court can’t schedule this before your deployment, you have 90 days from the date you return from deployment to request a hearing and it is possible the support order can be changed retroactively.
If your modification is approved, it will be effective on the date the form was served to the other party or your date of deployment, whichever is later.
For Assistance
For assistance or to find out more about your rights, you can contact your JAG Officer or the county Family Law Facilitator you are stationed or living. For more information, see the Office of Child Support Services’ Handbook for Military Families Office of Child Support Enforcement’s Handbook for Military Families.