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Hi everyone, I’m Dr. Michael Mantell with another edition of Family Law Matters with Bonnie Rabinovitch Mantel, Certified Family Law Specialist, Founder and Managing Partner of the Primus Family Law Group. Hi Bonnie. Hi Michael, how are you doing today? Terrific, I know that Primus Family Law Group has a unique focus and you’re known for this focus of working with and supporting military families during divorce and other family law struggles and challenges.

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I’m curious, what are some of the particularly more common concerns that military families have that you seem to be spending time with these days? Well, there are two, okay? One is financial and one is custodial. So on the financial end, a lot of military members are told by the military lawyers and the IRS that their non-taxable income being non-taxable, since they do not have to disclose it on their taxes, it’s not available for child support or spousal support purposes. And that is completely and utterly incorrect.

(1:17 – 1:54)
In the calculator that we use, in the program that we use to calculate child support, you’ve got your taxable income and you’ve got your non-taxable income. And so what happens is, is a lot of the military members, if they do their forms on their own and they go to court on their own, they’re perjuring themselves because they’re signing a document under penalty of perjury, claiming that they’ve disclosed all their income available for support. And again, not knowing, no malice involved, they don’t disclose their BAH and their BAS, both of which are non-taxable income.

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And there’s some other hazard pays and stuff when they’re away that are also non-taxable. But the BAH and the BAS are the big ones. And so when they speak to an attorney, they get the rude awakening of, not only do they have to disclose it, but because it’s non-taxable, they pay a bigger percentage in a sense because the computer grosses it up, right? Child support, spousal support, it’s based on gross income.

(2:21 – 3:00)
So it grosses it up, meaning they have more income available for support and therefore they pay more money. The other concern we’re hearing a lot is, when I’m on deployment or when I’m away for training and I don’t have my custodial time with my children, what’s gonna happen when I get back? Yes, my ex gets to have them 100% of the time, but then when I get back, am I gonna have to fight to get my kids back? And the answer is absolutely not. We actually have a codal provision that says, we’re not gonna punish you for serving your country, thank you for serving your country.

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It’s when you get back, you resume your previous custodial arrangement immediately. There’s no going to court, there’s no, and when the other person tries to file that motion, it’s not looked well upon by judges because we have this protection. So those are the two I see a lot.

(3:20 – 3:58)
Fascinating. Do you find that children in these situations, do they have access to any special counseling services that the military provides families if they’re having difficulties during a deployment or during a divorce situation? I would think so. I honestly, I mean, I personally am not right there in the military arena in the sense I’m not on base, but I do believe that they have that just like you can get if you’re in the divorce, if you’re in the divorce process, there are things like Kids Turn, which is a program for children going through divorce.

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And I have to believe there are a lot of military families that are in that program as well. It’s voluntary. There are several online programs, especially now with COVID, you can do that by virtual programs.

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And there’s always your insurance. The military has an amazing insurance ability and the kids are covered. So there’s therapy that is provided through their TRICARE insurance.

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Primus Family Law and you specifically spend a lot of time supporting military causes, military activities. You seem to be invested in helping this particular group of our population. Well, Team Primus, we recognize their service and we appreciate it.

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And it’s a little funny. I mean, I’m originally Canadian. I’m also American now.

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I’ve chosen this country. And so I appreciate all of their sacrifices for making not only this country, but considering I’m just North, what happens in America expects everybody. And since Canada is pretty close, we’re pretty tied.

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So I get that what they do makes a huge impact on how we live and the freedom that we get to enjoy. And everybody at Team Primus is very, very appreciative and grateful of the service. And you provide service to all branches of the military, men, women.

(5:36 – 5:42)
Absolutely. Right, exactly. Very interesting and very informative as always, Bonnie.

(5:42 – 6:08)
I wanna thank everyone for tuning in to another edition of Family Law Matters with Certified Family Law Specialist, Bonnie Rabinovitch-Mantel. And if you want to speak with Bonnie for 30 minutes without cost and a free consultation, Bonnie, people can reach you how? They can call us at 619-574-8000, or you can reach us at www.primusfamilylaw.com.