This topic contains 4 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by Jere Beery 9 years, 7 months ago.
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Stricter Standards for VA Compensation Apportionment Requests
Started by Andrea Boyd
Under current laws, the Office of the Attorney General can request an apportionment of VA Disability Compensation for child support. This is fair, as the veteran’s obligation to his/her children remains, regardless of disability status.
However, we can enact laws in Texas limiting the conditions under which OAG can request that apportionment.
For example, if a veteran is so disabled they require constant assistance to complete activities of daily living, many times the VA Disability and Caregiver pay is the only income that family has. The vet’s spouse may be unable to work outside the home.
Under the current laws, the existing child support obligation is the only criteria necessary for an apportionment request to the VA. Can we not put laws in place where if the vet requires Aid and Attendance, TX OAG can’t request the apportionment? These veterans and their families have sacrificed more than most.
You will need to login to join the discussion.4RepliesJere Beery, 10 years ago
“The federal takeover of our nation’s health care system is only the largest of many health policy challenges facing our state.”
So Mr. Abbott, I guess talking about the VA Healthcare System does not concern you at all. Your stand on attaching to a veteran’s disability compensation to pay alimony and child support speaks volumes about your anti-veteran campaign and agenda. You realize you are speaking about American Tax Dollars designated for the combat disabled veteran’s needs diverted to third parties and their attorneys. Between the VA letting veterans die waiting for healthcare and the epidemic of veteran suicides, you plan on creating a situation where if the disabled veteran cannot afford to care for their own needs and are jailed because they cannot pay what the court has ordered them to, they simply put a gun to their head and pull the trigger. Mr. Abbott, do you really think that would be in the best interest of their child??? Has someone told you that disabled veterans receive a pot of gold and more than enough gold to support two families while attempting to start a new relationship? I’ll bet it was an attorney that told you that. They love to steal American Tax Dollars. And the ABA knows the disabled veteran cannot afford to hire an attorney to fight any court order, and the ABA likes it that way. What happened to; “There is no way we can repay you for your service to this country. Thank you for your service.” It is not that the disabled veterans do not want to take care of their child/children, its that they live on very limited funding by the VA. If you really wanted to help both the combat disabled veteran AND their child/children, you would adopt increasing the dependants compensation to a realistic and current living standard and allow that money to follow the child no matter where the child ends up. That is money that the VA pays the veteran as long as their child/children live under the same roof. Once custody has changed the VA cuts the dependence’s compensation off and the disabled veteran loses that money. Right now it is just over $100 a month for a single child. If that amount was increased to a realistic COL amount, no one would suffer. You should also object to a disabled veteran paying alimony to an able body ineligible ex-family member in the form of alimony from their disability compensation. To consider ANYTHING else would only do 3 things; 1.) Make the disabled veteran homeless. 2.) Put the disabled veteran in jail. 3.) Bury the disabled veteran after they blow their brains out. Good luck Abbott, you’re going to need it.Jere Beery, 10 years ago
“Under the current laws, the existing child support obligation is the only criteria necessary for an apportionment request to the VA.” Mr. Abbott, it is apparent that you haven’t even read USC, Title 38, section 5307. If you had read 5307 on Apportionment you would realize that ONLY the spouse can request an apportionment, not a former spouse, not an ex-spouse, not the Governor of Texas. 5307 does not mention “DIVORCE”, “EX-SPOUSE”, “CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS”, or donations to your campaign. Your family law legal advisors are giving you bogas advise which only lines their own pockets during a divorce. I have made it easy for you, see 5307 below;
USC, TITLE 38, 5307 –
(a) All or any part of the compensation, pension, or emergency officers’ retirement pay payable on account of any veteran may—
(1) if the veteran is being furnished hospital treatment, institutional, or domiciliary care by the United States, or any political subdivision thereof, be apportioned on behalf of the veteran’s spouse, children, or dependent parents; and
(2) if the veteran is not living with the veteran’s spouse, or if the veteran’s children are not in the custody of the veteran, be apportioned as may be prescribed by the Secretary.
(b) Where any of the children of a deceased veteran are not in the custody of the veteran’s surviving spouse, the pension, compensation, or dependency and indemnity compensation otherwise payable to the surviving spouse may be apportioned as prescribed by the Secretary.
(c) If a veteran is not living with the veteran’s spouse, or if any of the veteran’s children are not in the custody of the veteran, any subsistence allowance payable to the veteran under chapter 31 of this title or that portion of the educational assistance allowance payable on account of dependents under chapter 34 of this title may be apportioned as may be prescribed by the Secretary.Jere Beery, 10 years ago
CORRECTION: Above I should have reconized foster caregivers or direct reletives of the disabled veteran can apply for apportionment under 5307. Apportionment was never intended to be a means to aquiring Child Support payments by an ex-spouse. If it was, 5307 would state that fact.
Jere Beery, 10 years ago
“Under current laws, the Office of the Attorney General can request an apportionment of VA Disability Compensation for child support. This is fair, as the veteran’s obligation to his/her children remains, regardless of disability status.”
Mr. Abbott, I can’t help but cringe every time I read this statement of yours. You are aware that a severely disabled veteran (with less than 20 years of service) receiving VA disability compensation CANNOT collect any kind of state or federal welfare because they receive just enough money to disqualify them from such programs. They can’t work and earn moneys to offset the financial loss. These disabled veterans can’t even collect food stamps. Your hypothetical scenarios do not reflect real world situations. Allow me to give you an example; over the past 12 years I have been studying and investigating the issues disabled veterans face in a divorce. I have also documented 177 cases from all points across the US. A significant number of these divorces were filed based on the fact the severely disabled combat veteran who may have lost 1 or more limbs returns home to find that their spouse claim; “they aren’t the same person I married”, or “I did not marry an inviolate and I am too young to spend the rest of my life as a caregiver”, or “the veteran can no longer produce children and I no longer want to be married to them.” Yes Mr. Abbott, it happens like this every day in court rooms nationwide. Then, during the divorce the spouse walks away with half of the disabled veteran’s disability compensation as alimony or spousal support. That’s only fair, right? Wrong…. Individuals such as yourself make up stories that fit your selective interpretation to justify your claims. You have no idea what is involved when a combat veteran returns home missing parts of their body. Then, to add insult to injury, at some point during the judge’s ruling the spouse’s attorney will submit a motion to have his client’s attorney fees attached to the divorce settlement, and the judge will agree. Now the combat disabled veteran has lost more than half of their only source of livelihood. It should be noted that the spouse’s attorney IS NOT a party to the divorce. The attorney provides a “service” and is a CREDITOR in the case. This action by the court and the attorney is a direct violation of USC, Title 38, Sec. 5301. Now tell me Mr. Abbott, is that fair also?
If you seek the opinion of most experts on the reasons people commit suicide you will discover 3 of the top 5 reasons are;1.) Mental Illness, or Emotional Disorder and chronic depression = Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
2.) Loss of a family, or relationship resulting in chronic depression = Divorce.
3.) Severe financial hardship causing chronic depression = Inability to financially care for their own necessary needs to live a normal life.These 3 reasons pop up in numerous studies as triggers to suicide. Experts will tell you that any one of these reasons can push a normal person over the edge. A disabled combat veteran going through a divorce faces all 3 of these triggers at one time. Mr. Abbott, are you getting the picture? People like you that take the word of family law attorneys who have a vested interest in enriching their pockets by influencing you to target or combat disabled veterans are directly responsible for the epidemic of veteran suicides in this country today. That makes what you’re suggesting a threat to our national security. You might respond by asking me if I think disabled veterans shouldn’t have to pay alimony and child support? Mr. Abbott, they are not paying it now, you are, and the American Tax payers are. The disabled veteran is simply caught in the middle and suffering the hardship. That’s only fair, right?
