Do you still receive BAH after you are divorced and have to pay child support?

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 16:58:09 -0400

Me and my ex-wife are both in the military, we have one kid together, and the kid is under her care, so would I receive full BAH if I’m paying child support?

Response by SGT Joseph Gunderson made Jun 19 at 2018 5:27 PM

SGT Joseph Gunderson — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 17:27:20 -0400

1. When a member is divorced from a nonmember, and they share
joint legal custody of a child, and the ex-spouse is awarded primary physical custody, then the
member is considered a noncustodial parent for the purpose of entitlement to BAH. If the
member’s court-ordered child support is less than the applicable BAH-DIFF rate, and the
member is not residing in, or assigned to, government quarters, the member is entitled only to
BAH at the without dependents rate. However, members who pay additional support to the exspouse
having primary custody of the child(ren) so that the total child support provided is equal
to or more than the BAH-DIFF rate, and who are not assigned to government quarters, are
entitled to BAH at the without dependents rate and BAH-DIFF.

Response by Patricia Overmeyer made Jun 19 at 2018 6:13 PM

Patricia Overmeyer — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 18:13:50 -0400

When a member is divorced from another military member and you are still both serving, then you need to figure out who has the child under the DEERS. That will have an impact on whether or not you will receive full BAH. When both parents are in the military, there are other factors which go into the BAH rates. If she has the child for the majority of the time and the child is under her name on DEERS, then she is given the BAH with dependents rate. You may only receive BAH with dependents rate during the time in which the child is living with you. Even if you are paying child support, if she is receiving BAH with dependent rate based on the child living with her and she is living on base (gov't owned/leased family quarters), then you cannot get BAH rate. You need to read through the JTR, Ch 10, Part C. and JTR, pars. 10120, 10122, 10124, 10126 and 10206.
The other thing which you need to figure out is whether or not the child support calculation was based on you having BAH with dependents rate. If it was, then you may wish to talk with your attorney regarding whether or not that needs to be modified. I know that I have had several cases in which both parents are in the military, divorced and we have had to recalculate child support given that one parent no longer is receiving the BAH with dependents rate.
Best of luck to you getting through this quagmire.

Response by LCpl Ferdinand Hughes made Jun 20 at 2018 8:51 AM

LCpl Ferdinand Hughes — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 08:51:13 -0400

It depends, are you living in non government quarters? If yes, then you would get BAH with Dependents for Child Support purposes only. If in governments quarters, then it's BAH Diff. It's command discretion as far as if you can continue to live non government quarters. Check with your MILPO and Disbo for clarification of Army regs. I primarily deal with the Navy now, but in a nutshell BAH rules are universal.

Response by LCpl Ferdinand Hughes made Jun 20 at 2018 9:06 AM

LCpl Ferdinand Hughes — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 09:06:18 -0400

I checked on it, you have to qualify for SINGLE BAH, since she is claiming the child. You'll get BAH Diff.