How can child support of a military member be enforced?
A civilian spouse can get a child support order enforced within the chain of command of the military spouse or former spouse. The company or unit commander is responsible for the enforcement of an interim child support order, as required by military regulations, for example. After a court order is obtained, the service members pay can be garnished or a portion can be allotted to child support, as required in the court order. Military pay can be garnished for certain permissible purposes, and child support is a listed permissible purpose. Other types of pay that can be garnished are military retirement pay, reserve pay, federal civilian employee pay (if the spouse is a civilian employee of the military, say). Housing allowance nor the food allowance is subject to garnishment or taxes, for that matter. All other forms of active pay can be garnished, including special skills pay. A custodial parent can also use what is called an involuntary allotment, also called a mandatory allotment. An
