Relating to the treatment of veteran disability dependent benefits in the determination of a child support obligation

This bill relates to the treatment of veteran disability dependent benefits in determining a child support obligation. The bill provides that veteran disability dependent benefits shall be treated in the same manner as social security dependent (SSD) benefits are currently treated. Under current law, if a child receives SSD benefits as the result of a parent’s disability, the payment amount is to be included as income to the parent when calculating the amount of child support. After calculating the amount of child support, if the disabled parent is the obligor, the obligor’s support obligation is then to be credited, dollar for dollar, in the amount of the SSD payment made to the dependent, with any remaining obligation amount to be paid by the obligor. Finally, unless the court otherwise provides, dependent benefits paid to the child support obligee as a result of disability benefits awarded to the child support obligor fully satisfy and substitute for the support obligations for the same period of time for which the benefits are awarded, until such time as the child support order is modified. Under the bill, these same provisions would apply to disability benefits awarded to a parent by the United States department of veterans affairs. The bill also makes conforming changes including those in Code chapter 252H (adjustment and modification of support orders) to allow child support services to include a determination of arrearages in veteran disability-related modification orders, as is the case with SSD-related modification orders, to provide a way for the parent and child support services to determine if any arrearages are due because of the change in treatment of veteran disability dependent benefits under the bill.