How to Get Child Support in Fort Lauderdale When a Former Spouse Is an Active-Duty Service Member
If you are a parent going through a military divorce in Fort Lauderdale, child support is likely a concern. Fortunately, Broward County courts can establish and enforce child support, regardless of where your spouse is stationed or deployed.
Our experienced Fort Lauderdale military divorce lawyer explains how Florida calculates child support for military parents and ways to ensure it gets paid.
How Florida Calculates Child Support for Military Parents
Child support guidelines are listed under Section 61.30 of the Florida Statutes and apply to all parents, including active-duty service members. It’s based on both parents’ gross incomes and specific child-related costs such as health insurance and childcare.
For military parents, determining gross income is more complex than simply looking at a pay stub. Military compensation includes several components beyond base pay that Florida courts consistently include in the calculation:
- Basic Allowance for Housing, or BAH, which represents a genuine financial resource available to the service member.
- Basic Allowance for Subsistence, or BAS, which is the food allowance paid to service members.
- Hazard pay, flight pay, sea pay, re-enlistment bonuses, and other specialty pays that increase total compensation during certain assignments.
- Deployment pay and combat pay, though the temporary nature of deployment income is a factor the judge considers.
- Any outside earnings the service member receives.
Accurately calculating military income requires a thorough review of the service member’s Leave and Earnings Statement, which functions as their pay stub and documents every component of their compensation.
Getting Child Support in Fort Lauderdale When a Former Spouse Is Deployed
Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), Fort Lauderdale service members on active duty may request a minimum 90-day stay if they are unable to participate in a Broward County Family Court case. While delays are frustrating, they are only temporary. Once you get a Broward County child support order, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, or DFAS, can process it, automatically deducting child support from the service member’s military pay.
To establish and protect your right to child support in Fort Lauderdale, take these steps if the other parent is on active duty:
- File your child support petition promptly and ask for a temporary order while the case is pending.
- Obtain a copy of the service member’s Leave and Earnings Statement to document all income sources accurately.
- Request an income withholding order directing DFAS to deduct support payments from the service member’s pay.
- Notify the court of changes in the service member’s rank, assignment, or deployment status, which could affect their income.
Under federal military law, failing to support a family financially is a violation of military regulations, which gives service members an additional incentive to comply.
Contact Our Experienced Fort Lauderdale Military Divorce Lawyer
Parents in Fort Lauderdale have an obligation to pay child support, and military service does not change that. For trusted legal help throughout the process of getting and enforcing a child support order, contact Fort Lauderdale military divorce lawyer Vanessa L. Prieto Law Offices. Request a consultation today.
Sources:
flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/61.30
justice.gov/servicemembers/servicemembers-civil-relief-act-scra
