I am currently receiving child support payments from my ex-husband who is on disability. He was ordered to pay $551 per month according to my decree. We have been going to court because he is trying to get the amount lowered because he pays support for 4 others as well, but was not married to the mothers.
Our children are 21 and 19 now, but he owes way over $30 thousand and $24 thousand of that amount is the principle, the other is the interest. His attorney is trying to get it lowered to $50 (can that be lowered that drastically?) because he is on a fixed income and disability.
At the DHS administration hearing I was told that the amount will probably be lowered since my divorce decree was so many years ago. The DHS representative said that although he was ordered to pay the $551.00 when we divorced the guidelines to garnish wages from his disability check are different now. They have, however, been garnishing the current amount from his disability check for the past year.
My question is why or how can it be lowered so drastically? Will I have to get a lawyer to fight this or what can I look into to make sure the change does not occur? Thanks.
By Donna from Tulsa, OK
I don't believe anyone who posts to this board is qualified to answer your question. Laws are different in every state.
Unless the Social Security laws have drastically changed in very recent years, Social Security Disability can be garnished. I am still receiving back child support from garnishing his disability payments for my son who is now 30. And let me say, I did not live in a big house with a swimming pool. I lived in a 728-square-foot one-bedroom house with my son from his age 6 to 19 and we had no air conditioning until he was 17. We were never able to take vacations or even go to very many movies. I became an expert in finding free things to do in our small town.
My ex-husband always worked "under the table" so as to hide from us and to keep from paying taxes, etc. It was when my son's father went on Social Security Disability that we were finally notified that he had been found. I had registered with our local Missouri Support Enforcement Unit, but unless you are actually on welfare, locating non-supporting fathers is very low priority with them. I was never on welfare, my salary was always barely above the income limits.
Before hiring a lawyer, talk to your Social Security office first, it will probably require an actual visit. You probably won't even need a lawyer. They will tell you the documents you will need. Good luck!
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
My ex's disability has been garnished since August. Missouri child support said they received nothing. The child support office says SSA has a hold due to the large amount.
SSA says they send it every month. And the benefits the children receive are credited to his amount every month. I am not sure what to do.Make an appointment with Social Security. If you have no luck, contact the Legal Aid Society. A lawyer will represent you for free.
It sounds like you'll need a lawyer to ask for a court order to trace the funds owed to you. If both agencies are saying that one sent it, the other didn't receive it then there is an error in bookkeeping somewhere.
I pay child support out of my SS benefits. My arrears balance kept accumulating even though I wasn't able to work. Can that arrears balance be taken off to the date my application was filed and approved by the state for SSDI?
By Carl
Hi - it cannot be stressed enough that each case is sometimes different so no one can advise you but someone at your Social Security office. Go there and ask questions - please.
As a general rule SS/SSI/SSID have nothing to do with child support as child support is a court order and not the US government.
Child support is still owed even if the child/children are receiving SS benefits.
The court can sometimes set it up so that SS benefits can go towards child support but only an attorney can help you with this.
Free Attorney services are usually available for anyone on SSI.
My son doesn't have his father's last name. His father is now disabled. Can he still receive benefits from his father's disability?
By Chastity
You'll need to go to your local Social Security office and speak to a representative. They will give you an application and a list of all the documents/documentation required. Be sure to make a photocopy of absolutely everything you give them, including your filled out application and attached documents, before turning it in because records do sometimes get lost or misplaced (I found that out first hand) and you don't want to have to start the process all over again.
And, yes, as long as you can prove your child is the fathers your child will most likely be able to receive an amount of benefits based on the fathers disability income.
Do I need to hire a lawyer or does the D.A. file for a garnishment of my ex-husband's SSD benefits for back child support in Tennessee?
By vdl
Call the local Social Security office, they will be able to advise you on the best route to take. They may award more money for the SSD benefactor to cover child support but be warned they probably will not cover all of it. The extra money will be sent straight to the parent with the children and the balance will be the responsibility of the parent collecting SSD.
When I signed up for SSD I informed my SS councelor that I had child support responsibilities. They raised my SSD amount by a little over $600 a month but I was still responsible for $291 a month. Very acceptable all things considered. But if the spouse on SSD is a low life and doesn't want to pay, even if it is a lower amount, you may still need to a lawyer to get the balance. The Social Security office will be able to clarify. To my knowledge SSD can not be garnished.
I recently was awarded disability by the VA. I have child support arrears and wanted to know is there any way they can be eradicated or reduced.
By James
You will have to talk to your local Child support Collect Office about this. It is free to talk to them. That being said, you created a child, children, and it is your responsibility to at least partially support them.
Can child support take my back pay from SSDI that I get for my kids now?
By Clifford
If you mean your SSDI for you anything is possible depending on the state you live in. If you mean the supplemental for your children because of your disability I honestly don't think their money would be attached because it's for their expenses. The best thing to do is contact your local Social Security office and ask them what the rules would be for your particular circumstance.
California Child Support has been taking half of my SSDI for child support. I went back to court to modify it due to my financial hardships and was sent a "zero support" order.
Will child support stop my garnishment now?You now have to pay nothing for child support. That's what zero support means. They recognize that you don't have the money to pay. Your garnishment will stop. If your financial situation improves, you may have to start paying again.
My fiancé is severely disabled as of three years ago. He started receiving disability payments this past August and the state takes his monthly child support obligatory payment every month from his check.
My question is this, since he still owes 9,000 in back child support, but is making monthly payments to child support are they able to start garnishing from his disability check for the back pay owed when they are currently taking from his check the current monthly payment decided by the courts? He received back disability pay in August and child support seized that and we went to court and set up a monthly payment plan. Please help anyone if you can, we live in Colorado.
My ex-wife owes me 15k in back child support. She hired a lawyer so that she would be approved for disability. When she is awarded disability they will owe her a good bit of back pay. Will the back child support she owes be paid?
Does the lawyer get paid before anyone? She will owe him 8k. We both live in Louisiana. I am not sure what type of disability she will be awarded. She can't work due to severe anxiety.If she is on SSI disability, and has a very low income, she can ask that future child support payments be modified. She is still legally obligated to pay back child support, and the back pay may be garnished.
