Military Child Support Rules for Service Members Stationed in Wyoming

Receiving permanent change of station (PCS) orders to F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, serving with the 90th Missile Wing in the missile fields, or activating with the Wyoming Army or Air National Guard brings unique financial rules when a marriage ends or a paternity action is filed. Many service members assume that because Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) and Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) are excluded from federal taxable income on their IRS W-2, those allowances cannot be touched when a Wyoming judge calculates monthly child support. In reality, overlooking tax-free military allowances can cause an airman or guardsman to miscalculate their monthly support exposure by hundreds of dollars.

Military child support rules for service members stationed in Wyoming sit at the intersection of state domestic relations statutes and federal military regulations. Before a state court even issues a temporary order, base commanders enforce strict internal Air Force and Department of Defense family support mandates, while permanent orders are governed by the Wyoming Child Support Act (Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-301 through Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-315). Consulting an experienced Wyoming military family law attorney from our directory ensures your Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) is properly analyzed, your Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) deployment protections are asserted, and your DFAS withholdings are accurately credited.

Air Force Personnel

For active-duty personnel stationed at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Cheyenne or serving in the Wyoming Military Department, Cheyenne, child support is governed by two sequential regimes: internal military commander rules (when no court order or written agreement exists yet) and Wyoming District Court orders (which immediately supersede military regulations once signed by a judge).

Here is how military pay and Air Force interim rules operate in Wyoming:

• BAH, BAS, and Special Pays Count as Income in Wyoming Courts: Under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-303, 'income' is defined as any form of payment or return in money or in kind to an individual, regardless of source. Consequently, Wyoming District Courts-including the First Judicial District Court, Laramie County, Cheyenne-include not only your taxable military Base Pay, Flight Pay, Hazard Duty Incentive Pay, and Enlistment Bonuses, but also your non-taxable Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) and Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS). Even if an unmarried airman lives on base in government quarters or dormitories, courts may evaluate the in-kind value of free housing and meals under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-303. Because BAH and BAS are tax-free, they are not reduced by federal income tax deductions when computing net monthly income under the Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-304 tables.
• Interim Air Force Support Under DAFI 36-2906: During the weeks or months before the First Judicial District Court, Laramie County, Cheyenne enters a judicial child support order, Air Force personnel are bound by Department of the Air Force Instruction 36-2906 (Personal Financial Responsibility) under the authority of Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 1344.09 (Indebtedness of Military Personnel). In the absence of a court order or written agreement, an Air Force member must pay interim family support based on the Non-Locality BAH (BAH-II) With-Dependents rate, divided pro-rata by the total number of supported family members. While a squadron commander at F.E. Warren AFB cannot garnish your pay directly without a court order, failing to pay interim support under DAFI 36-2906 is a violation of a lawful regulation punishable under 10 U.S.C. § 892 (Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice) and adverse administrative action.

Deployment Adjustments

When an airman from the 90th Missile Wing deploys overseas, pulls extended missile alert facility tours, or when a citizen-soldier in the Wyoming National Guard is mobilized from civilian employment to Title 10 federal active duty, two major legal issues arise: court procedural protections and income shifts.

First, under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. § 3931 and 50 U.S.C. § 3932), a Wyoming court cannot enter a default child support judgment against an active-duty service member without first appointing an attorney, and any deployed service member whose military duties materially affect their ability to appear in court is entitled to an automatic 90-day stay of proceedings upon submitting a communication from their commanding officer and a statement showing when they can appear. Furthermore, under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-205, a temporary change in physical custody caused solely by a military deployment cannot be used by a Wyoming court as a permanent change of circumstances to strip custody-and if custody temporarily shifts during a long deployment, the parties can stipulate to a temporary support adjustment.

Second, deployment often triggers temporary spikes in income from Hostile Fire/Imminent Danger Pay, Family Separation Allowance (FSA), and the Combat Zone Tax Exclusion (CZTE), or causes a sudden drop in income when a high-earning civilian engineer or miner in Casper or Gillette is mobilized into the National Guard at a lower military pay grade. Under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-311, whenever a mobilization or return from deployment changes the presumptive child support calculation by 20% or more, either parent may file a petition to modify the monthly support order going forward.

Veterans Affairs (VA) Disability Pay

Service members transitioning out of F.E. Warren AFB or retiring from the Wyoming National Guard frequently receive monthly disability compensation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Cheyenne Regional Office, Cheyenne. Under Wyoming's marital property statute (Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-114) and federal law, VA disability compensation is strictly protected from being divided as marital property in a divorce. However, many veterans mistakenly believe this property shield also exempts VA disability checks from child support calculations.

In the controlling United States Supreme Court precedent Rose v. Rose, 481 U.S. 619 (US Supreme Court 1987), the Court held that federal veterans' benefits laws do not preempt state family courts from counting VA disability compensation as income when calculating child support-because Congress intended VA disability benefits to support both the disabled veteran and their dependent children. Consistent with Rose v. Rose, 481 U.S. 619 (US Supreme Court 1987) and the broad statutory language of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-303 (which includes 'disability benefits' and any payment regardless of source, excluding only means-tested public assistance like SSI or TANF under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-303), Wyoming District Courts include 100% of tax-free VA disability payments when computing net monthly income for child support.

Moreover, if a disabled veteran falls behind on court-ordered child support, collection follows two federal rules:

1. Concurrent Receipt / Waived Military Retired Pay: Under 42 U.S.C. § 659, if a military retiree waived a portion of taxable Title 10 military retired pay in order to receive tax-free Title 38 VA disability compensation, that portion of VA disability pay remains subject to direct income withholding through DFAS.
2. VA Apportionment for Service-Connected Disability: Even if a veteran did not retire from the military and receives solely Title 38 VA disability compensation (which is exempt from standard DFAS wage garnishment), the custodial parent can apply directly to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Cheyenne Regional Office, Cheyenne for an administrative VA Apportionment under 38 U.S.C. § 5307 and 38 C.F.R. § 3.450 using Form VA 21-0788, Federal, Department of Veterans Affairs, Information Regarding Apportionment of Beneficiary's Award to route a portion of the veteran's monthly benefit directly to the children.

DFAS Garnishment Procedures

Under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-6-204, every Wyoming child support order requires immediate income withholding unless the parties sign a written agreement approved by the court or demonstrate good cause. For active-duty Air Force members, Guard/Reserve personnel, and military retirees, income withholding is processed centrally by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Cleveland (DFAS) pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 659 and 5 C.F.R. § 581.103.

To initiate military payroll garnishment, the Clerk of the District Court or the Wyoming Department of Family Services, Child Support Program, Cheyenne serves Form OMB 0970-0154, Federal, Office of Child Support Services, Income Withholding for Support on DFAS Garnishment Law Directorate. Under the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. § 1673), DFAS can withhold up to:

• 50% of disposable earnings if the service member is supporting a current spouse or second family;
• 60% of disposable earnings if the service member is not supporting another spouse or child; and
• An additional 5% (up to 55% or 65% total) if the service member is more than 12 weeks in arrears on child support.

Additionally, under 42 U.S.C. § 665, if an active-duty member becomes delinquent in an amount equal to at least two months' worth of child support, an authorized state child support official can bypass court contempt delays and trigger a mandatory involuntary statutory military allotment that captures both base pay and housing allowances up to the CCPA limits.

Step-by-Step Process in Wyoming

Whether you are stationed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne or drilled with a Wyoming National Guard unit in Casper, Laramie, or Sheridan, establishing or modifying military child support follows six precise steps.

Step 1: Gathering Documents

Download your last 12 months of Leave and Earnings Statements (LES) from myPay, your IRS Form W-2, any VA Disability Rating Decision letters, current PCS or deployment orders, TRICARE/DEERS dependent enrollment records, and the last two years of federal tax returns required under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-308.

Step 2: Calculating True Military Net Income Under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-303

Add your gross taxable Base Pay and special incentive pays to your non-taxable BAH, BAS, and any VA disability compensation. Deduct only the statutory deductions permitted by Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-303: actual federal income tax, Social Security (FICA), Medicare, mandatory pension deductions (if any), current support paid for other children, and the out-of-pocket cost of supplemental dental/vision insurance for the children (since baseline TRICARE for active-duty dependents carries a $0 monthly premium). Note that voluntary Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) contributions, SGLI life insurance premiums, and Montgomery/Post-9/11 GI Bill buy-ins are not deductible when computing net income in Wyoming.

Step 3: Filing the Confidential Financial Affidavit and Petition in District Court

Complete Form ECVSP11, Wyoming, Judicial Branch, Confidential Financial Affidavit and file your support petition or Form CSMOD-01, Wyoming, Judicial Branch, Petition to Modify Child Support with the Clerk of the District Court-such as the First Judicial District Court, Laramie County, Cheyenne or the Seventh Judicial District Court, Natrona County, Casper. As the Wyoming Supreme Court held in Ready v. Ready, 76 P.3d 836 (WY Supreme Court 2003), complete financial affidavits with attached LES verification are mandatory before a judge can set or modify support.

Step 4: Invoking SCRA Stay Protections If Deployed

If you are deployed to a missile alert facility or overseas combat zone and cannot participate in a scheduled court hearing, have your Wyoming military family lawyer file a formal Motion for Stay of Proceedings under 50 U.S.C. § 3932 attaching your commander's letter and your expected return date to secure a mandatory 90-day stay.

Step 5: Incorporating TRICARE Medical Support and Travel Deviations

Every Wyoming child support order must include medical support provisions under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-401. Direct the order to require the service member to maintain the children in DEERS and TRICARE and specify how uncovered co-pays are split. If a permanent change of station (PCS) moves one parent out of Wyoming, request a downward deviation under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-307 to account for long-distance airline and highway visitation travel costs.

Step 6: Serving the Income Withholding Order on DFAS and Paying Through the Clerk

Until DFAS processes the Form OMB 0970-0154, Federal, Office of Child Support Services, Income Withholding for Support (which typically takes one to two pay cycles), make all interim payments directly through the Clerk of the District Court or the Wyoming Child Support Payment Center, Cheyenne-or set up a voluntary myPay discretionary allotment payable to the state disbursement unit-so every dollar is officially credited and replaces any interim DAFI 36-2906 obligation.

How Much Does it Cost in Wyoming?

Establishing, modifying, or enforcing a military child support order in Wyoming involves standard court costs and legal fees:

• District Court Filing Fee: $160 (or $160 to $185 including county law library fees) to file an original or reopened child support, divorce, or paternity petition in the First Judicial District Court, Laramie County, Cheyenne or other county District Courts under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 5-3-206(a)(i) (which includes $40 for court automation and $10 for indigent civil legal services pursuant to Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 5-3-205).
• DFAS Income Withholding Processing Fee: $0 (DFAS does not charge a service member or custodial parent to process an Income Withholding Order or statutory military allotment).
• Wyoming Child Support Program (IV-D) Application Fee: $0 (free) to open a child support or paternity case with the Wyoming Department of Family Services, Child Support Program, Cheyenne (a federal mandatory $35 annual fee is deducted only after $550 in support has been collected for families who have never received cash public assistance).
• Base Legal Assistance vs. Private Military Family Lawyer Fees: While the 90th Missile Wing Area Defense Counsel or Base Legal Office at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Cheyenne can provide free legal advice on DAFI 36-2906 and SCRA rights, JAG officers cannot represent you in a civilian Wyoming District Court. Hiring a private Wyoming family law attorney typically costs $2,000 to $4,500 for contested military child support and custody representation.

How Long Does the Process Take?

Military child support timelines in Wyoming depend on whether the case is handled through command channels or the District Court:

• Air Force Commander Inquiry (DAFI 36-2906): Typically requires a service member response within 5 to 15 days after a spouse submits a non-support complaint to the squadron commander.
• Mandatory SCRA Deployment Stay: Minimum 90 days upon filing a compliant motion and commander letter under 50 U.S.C. § 3932.
• DFAS Income Withholding Activation: Usually takes 30 to 45 days (one to two military pay cycles) after DFAS receives a valid Income Withholding for Support order.
• Wyoming District Court Establishment or Modification: Averages 60 to 120 days for uncontested or stipulated orders, and 4 to 8 months if contested.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)