This is the third and final installment of my interview with Atlanta based domestic relations lawyer Monica Hanrahan Freitag of the law firm Kessler, Schwarz & Solomiany. In this audio segment, Monica and I discuss the special issues that arise when the custodial and non-custodial parents live in different states and Social Security is involved. A question I get frequently - how can a custodial parent find out if a non-custodial parent has applied for benefits and if auxiliary benefits are forthcoming.
Read more on Interview with Family Lawyer Monica Hanrahan Freitag – Part 3…
Filed under SSDI and child support, Social Security Disability Benefits and Child Support by on Aug 15th, 2010. Comment. 
In this second installment of my interview with Monica Hanrahan Freitag, we discuss auxiliary benefits and how family law judges deal with lump sum disability payments.
Read more on Interview with Family Lawyer Monica Hanrahan Freitag – Part 2…
This is part 1 of my interview with Monica Hanrahan Freitag, a domestic relations lawyer at the law firm of Kessler, Schwarz & Solomiany. In part 1, Monica and I discuss how family law judges approach child support calculations and the special problems that arise when one or both parents are disabled. How are child support payments adjusted? How is the long delay in Social Security adjudication addressed?
Read more on Interview with Family Lawyer Monica Hanrahan Freitag – Part 1…
Filed under Offset issues, Social Security Disability Benefits and Child Support by on Jul 28th, 2010. 1 Comment.
I recently received this question from a visitor to this site:
I filed for divorce about a year ago and my husband moved out last September. He is on SSDI. My children receive SSDI checks [auxiliary beneficiaries] monthly. Is this considered “child support”?
Read more on Disabled Husband Not Paying Temporary Child Support…
Over the past few months, I have regularly received questions from custodial parents (usually moms) who have heard through the grapevine that their ex-husbands have been awarded SSDI or SSI, and they want to know:
- can they go after the back benefit “lump sum” to recover past due child support; and
- are their minor children entitled to auxiliary benefits based on the father’s Social Security benefits
Here is my response:
First, you have to realize that there are two areas of law involved here – Social Security rules, which are federal, and state laws arising from state court child support orders. Further state child support recovery units also may be involved, which creates yet another level of bureaucracy.
As discussed elsewhere on this blog, SSDI benefits may be attached to pay past due child support, but SSI benefits may not be attached. However, a state court divorce or child support order is not “nullified” just because a non-custodial parent is receiving SSI. Social Security may not be willing to withhold or seize payments on your behalf, but a parent who does not pay may have to answer to an angry state court judge and possibly face incarceration if he or she did not make some of his or her lump sum available to care for his or her child.
You should also be aware that Social Security privacy rules do not allow SSA personnel to reveal any information about your ex-spouse’s case. Social Security also has no responsibility to contact a benefit recipient’s ex-spouse or children to tell them about available benefits.
Here is what I would suggest to a non-custodial parent who thinks that her ex-spouse has been awarded benefits:
1. write a letter to Social Security and identify yourself and your children as possible claimants for unpaid child support or alimony and ask that your letter serve as a claim against your ex-spouse’s account and/or for a claim of auxiliary benefits. If you have your ex-spouse’s Social Security number and date of birth that would be very helpful. You can find the address for the Social Security office where your ex-spouse lives by using the office locater tool on the SSA.gov site. I generally send letters to Social Security using return receipt requested.Read more on How Do You Find Out if Your Ex-Husband is Receiving Disability Benefits…
Filed under Social Security Disability Benefits and Child Support by on Apr 17th, 2010. 2 Comments.
I am often asked if Social Security Disability Benefits can be garnished to pay child support payments. The answer of this question depends on what type of Social Security Disability benefits you are receiving.
Read more on Can disability benefits be garnished to pay child support?…
The comments and questions I receive on this site essentially fall into two camps. On one hand, the custodial parents (usually the mom) argue as follows:
What about the MOM of the CHILD or whoever else is taking care of your child? Is she/he on a fixed income? I’m sure being the only person taking care of your child, it is tight so y r u so special that you shouldn’t have to pay just because u r on a fixed income? If you are BEHIND in Child Support then u SUCK!! Period.
On the other hand, the non-custodial parent (usually a dad) writes with arguments like this:
Filed under Reader Stories, Social Security Disability Benefits and Child Support by on Nov 21st, 2009. 13 Comments.
Should a custodial parent “cut some slack” to a non-custodial parent who is disabled and unable to work? Child support orders that are based on a father’s pre-disability income will be untenable when the non-custodial dad cannot work. The disabled father may not have the funds to hire a lawyer to go back to court to ask for a modification, and the delinquency balance will grow and grow. As a number of disabled fathers have reported, a child support delinquency resulting from an unexpected medical condition and loss of income can result in a wholesale forfeiture of both the lump sum and part of the monthly disability award. Is it reasonable to ask custodial parents to help the fathers of their children, or should the child support awards be fully enforced?
Read more on Should Mom Cut Disabled Dad Some “Slack” for Past Due Child Support?…
I regularly warn my clients that child support orders do not grow stale or disappear. Even if the child did not live with the parent awarded custody, the obligation remains as long as the child support order remains in place. If the custodial parent received welfare benefits, the state issuing those benefits may gain the right to collect from the non-custodial parent.
Read more on Couple’s Joint Checking Account Drained for Old Out of State Support Order…
My wife has 2 children from a former marriage. Her ex just went on SSDI and the kids get $250.00 each from this. In the past he has only paid $250.00 per month child support and that has come from his new wife paying it, before that he would not pay, now when have been served papers to go to court so he can get this dropped off, they say that the SSDI is enough, can he get this done in the state of Texas?
Jonathan’s response: this is a legal question that can best be answered by a Texas lawyer who practices in the area of domestic relations. A good starting point would be Laura W. Morgan’s Child Support Guidelines article, which cites a 1997 Texas appellate case (Johnson v. Johnson) that permitted a child support obligor a dollar for dollar offset credit for the Social Security benefit received against the child support obligation. The justification for such an offset is that auxiliary benefits arise from a claimant’s work and payment into the Social Security system – since these contributions are based on income the claimant should be able to use funds that arise therefrom to offset child support obligations.
Read more on Reader Story: Ex-Husband Wants Child Support Offset in Texas…
Jonathan Ginsberg