I am joining the US army as active duty and my ex wife is demanding the BAH. Do I have to give it to her?

blaster

you arent obligated to give her anything more than what the court has ordered you to give her and she can b*tch and moan about it all she wants but that doesnt change anything. that money is suppposed to be for YOUR housing so its YOUR money and you can do whatever you want with it so screw her! you were divorced before you got in right? so she has no legal right to that..tell her to grow a brain

and on top of that if i were you id open a seperate bank account for the kids so she wont be able to touch the money cause you know how shady some people are

Georgia Peach

Your child support is based on your pay from your LES. She gets nothing more nothing less for child support. Don't sweat it and don't let her threaten you. $1100 a month is alot if you are just joining the military, your child support should actually go down. I'd check into it, she just might get the opposite of what she wants.

Good Luck!

davidmi711

Unless the court changes the court order, you are only obligated to pay the ordered amount. If your income has increased due to your going on active duty she could apply for an adjustment to the amount you are required to pay. If your pay went down, you may be able to have the amount adjusted down.

phree

No, you are not legally obligated to give her your Basic Allowance for Housing(BAH). I assume you have NEVER been in the military and was unaware of what this meant. Most likely you will live on the base where you are stationed and therefore not be eligible for BAH anyway.

Pablo

How did she find out what a BAH is and why are you telling her anything that is not about the kids. It is all about the kids so you are talking about other stuff. I think when she comes up against the paper work to get it she will give up. Please for your sake and the kids for that matter do not talk about your personal life. Tell the kids you will never abandon them and that you love them that is it your ex has no reason to know your personal life. If you need to talk tell your mother or a friend that does not talk to the EX.

wrathofkahn03

no once the divorce is final and you are maintaining your child support then you can sign up anyone you want....do not let the greedy skunk get hold of the money...or your kids may be sol....

As long as she is getting the court ordered child support, I don't think she's in a position to be demanding anything. I think you should just put it into the kids accounts. BUT, does she have access to withdraw funds from those accounts? That could become a problem. Maybe you could start a new savings account of your very own for this purpose.

Hawai'i

No, you do not have to give her BAH, the only thing she needs is child support. What a crazy b**ch, no wonder you two are divorced.
Oh, and plus you need to tell her you will be in the barracks, which mean there will be NO BAH. She isn't a dependent, she obviously doesn't realize this.

Shan

If your divorce is final, she cannot touch or demand your BAH. You pay a sufficient amount for your child support. She needs to get off her backside and get a job if she wants more money. She is your ex, you don't have to support her. Something to consider, if you live on base, you don't get BAH. If you don't, you will use it to pay your rent and utilities.

Frankencow

This is the military pal. We don't negotiate with terrorists... or ex-wives.

jerzyson29

Why the Army and not the Coast or National Guard? But any way don't give her a penny more and tell her your trying to get full custody when you get back she will s*%$ her pants.

blondie

hell no u dont have to give ur BAH to her, that is for your housing in the army, she cant tuch that.

Matron Mama D

No way. Let the greedy bi*** get a job. 1100 a month is WAYYY more than most dads are paying.... Unless you have 16 kids.

ifyahaftas

Your BAH is a Basic Allowance for housing, and don't think you'll qualify for BAH in basic. I'd think your child support would cover everything else.

Roadrunner58-79

N O, the BAH has absolutely nothing to do with the child support. The child support only comes out of your base pay. Suggest you seek legal advice from JAG during inprocessing week before you start basic training and that will have to be done ASAP!
US ARMY (RETIRED) 1958 - 1979

Tex S

You better ask an attorney. Maybe an Army attorney could advise you.

Sam K

I really don't think you have to as long as you are paying your child support and your BAH allowance was not part of your divorce agreament.

You will fill out a lot of paperwork when you are in-processing. Go to base legal as soon as you graduate (until then you are a recruit, not AD) and get advice. That is part of their job, to assist you the service member. Don't forget to specify what you want done with your SGLI (service group life insurance), in the event of your demise. Base legal will be able to help with that as well. point of this is that if you die your designated heirs will get the money (recent changes have allotment for minor children's' care. previously it was held until they turn 18) Hence your EX will get the funds b/c she is their custodian. If you aren't comfortable with this you need to talk to legal about estate planning to carry out your wishes. Also, your children are eligible for Tri-care and should be listed as dependents and hence get DEERS ID cards for all things r/t your new life.

Jessica's Man

Number one... You will not be entitled to receive the full BAH rate that you may be thinking. You'll receive what is called BAH-DIFF. This used to be the difference of the BAH at the With Dependent's rate and BAH at the Single rate. Now it's a standard rate across the board for each paygrade (for E1 in 2007 the rate is $237 per month). Of course if you're authorized to live off-post then this changes... but chances are that won't happen for you for a while... not during Basic anyway.

Number two... your ex is entitled to the amount settled upon in your divorce decree for child support. No more... no less. She can't go after your additional BAH-Diff amount. This amount is what the Army will be paying to you to help offset your child support payment.

Annie

The first thing to do is before you leave, contact the county family courts you divorced in (if you are divorced) or have your child support orders through. Notify them you are joing the military, tell them what you will get for your base pay. Unless you have custody of your kids more than 50% of the time (which you won't for at least the next year anyway), you will not be eligable to live off base or in base housing, so there won't be any BAH (unless you are married now of course). You may qualify for differential BAH (basically, they would give you the difference between what you would get if you did live with them compared to what you would get at single rate). This won't amount to much more than a couple hundred a month..if that. The court will adjust your child support based on your income. Unless you are paying spousal support as well, your ex has no right to place demands on it. Once you know the court ordered amount, set up a direct allotment to either a state account or her checking account and have the money automatically deducted from your pay every month. I think your ex may be in for a shock though because I have a very strong feeling your child support payments will go down...$1100 is over half of what you would make each month as a new enlistee and no court will order so high a payment!

Mrsjvb

the only thing you are obligated to give her is the amount dictated by the child support agreement. Not a penny more.

jlf

Talk to your lawyer - you won't get intelligent answers here.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: