Section 459 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §652) prevents child support agencies from garnishing most benefits paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The exception is disability compensation paid instead of waived military retired or retainer pay.
If a veteran who is eligible to receive military retirement or retainer pay has waived a portion of those benefits to receive disability compensation from the VA, that portion of the VA benefit is subject to garnishment for child support (and spousal support) obligations. If, however, a veteran has waived the entire amount of his or her military retirement pay, that individual’s disability compensation is not subject to income withholding for child support.
The VA has established a special address for handling IWOs for the situation where the IWO may be enforceable. For NCPs who are former military members and meet the qualifications, the IWOs to the VA should be sent to:
Department of Veterans Affairs
Compensation Intake Center
PO Box 4444
Jamesville, WI 53547
This is not a standard (or type 30) address in OSIS. This address is not a part of the eIWO process.
You will first need to create a type 05 address* on APEU for the following:
Department of Veterans Affairs
PO Box 4444
Jamesville, WI 53547
You can then generate an IWO using the employer sequence for the new entry on APEU. Using ALC, you will generate an original manual IWO (Document ID NOIAIU – User Req Initial IWO Emp Copy) and e-mail it to yourself. Open the new document in Adobe and edit the address to reflect the “Compensation Intake Center.” In addition, you should delete the standard IWO cover letter since it is addressed to the recipient as an employer. That standard cover letter might confuse the VA.
Next, create a new cover letter (via G03) to the complete Jamesville, Wisconsin address. The letter should read as follows:
“RE: (FGN XXXXXXXXX)
Dear Department of Veterans Affairs,
The attached Income Withholding Order is forwarded to your office for review and determination. _INSERT OBLIGOR’S NAME_ is receiving Veterans’ Benefits. Please update your records according to the withholding order and remit payments as indicated. In the event you are unable to withhold, please respond in according with the withholding notice.”
The timeframe before any possible payments are received when using this process can be between three and six months. The payments, when finally received, will likely be identified as “U.S. Treasury.” For help in determining whether a veteran waived any portion of retired or retainer pay to receive VA benefits, the worker can contact the VA Regional Office Inquiry Line: 1-800-827-1000.
For more information on child support and the Veteran’s Administration, see: Income Withholding and Medical Support for Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits page on the OCSE website.
* If you are not familiar with creating a type 05 employer address using APEU, do not hesitate to contact ESC at: *OCSS.ESCMgmt OCSS.ESCMgmt@okdhs.org, and ESC will assist in adding that information for you.