Divorce Advice for Men | Fathers Rights Divorce | Child Custody

Question:

My older child graduated high school and is joining the military so how do I modify child support to account for my other minor child?

My ex-wife is not contesting this and we agree that I should pay 50 percent of my current child support amount since we now have one minor child rather than two.

How do I go about a child support modification since the support is paid through the state and garnished from my paycheck?

By Tara N. Brewer

Special to DadsDivorce.com

A deployed soldier already has to deal with the stress of family separation. Possible changes in child custody and threats to fathers rights during deployment only compound the issue.

A new Pennsylvania bill protects the deployed soldier by stating that no changes in a child custody arrangement can occur with the child of an active-duty military servicemember, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The only exception in changing the child custody arrangement would be for the best interest of the child.  

The new law indicates that a deployed soldier can petition the court for a temporary order to assign child custody rights to family members. Also, the law permits deployed parents to testify via phone, videoconference, or other electronic means if need be.

Question:

My military divorce question is about division of military retirement plans.

I am a retired member of the U.S. Army and have been in the military for decades, including many years before I got married.

My estranged wife says she is entitled to 50% of my military retirement. Is she entitled to the full 50% of the current value of my retirement account or just 50% of the income generated during our marriage?

Question:

It has just come to my attention that I have overpaid my child support payments due to an incorrect wage garnishment of my military pay above the court-ordered amount.

I filed the request months ago to stop my military wage garnishments and was told they would stop. I later found out the person helping me at the child support division failed to file the necessary paperwork resulting in the overpayments.

How can I get this child support situation rectified and receive credit for the overpayments already made because of the child support office's error?

By Julie Garrison

Special to DadsDivorce.com

A previous divorce article looked at the widespread issue of divorced dads in the military losing child custody while on deployment.

Most military dads are unaware that they could lose custody during their deployments, even with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), which was designed to provide protection to active members of the armed forces from civil actions back home.

However, the SCRA was ambiguous in its language about handling child custody matters, resulting in many military fathers continuing to lose custody of their children while deployed.