[mil] deployable and custody

Brief overview. Female had a 2yr marriage to someone whom is in the Navy. Upon divorce they mutually agreed the wife would have full custody of the child from the relationship. On financial maters, agreement stated that husband would continue to make payments on her car (around $8000) and credit card debt ($7000) in lieu of child support. The now 4yr old boy has autism and lives in North Carolina now. Child support should be starting next moth but the father has said it would not start for another month because they could not afford to, based on old incomes of another state child support would have been $526 from that state’s paperwork. Mother and Child has lived in North Carolina for close to 2yrs, I ran the the formula and it shows $882. Father has threatened the mother that he would take the kid (sue her for custody) if she attempted to get child support adjusted. The father is stationed out of state and is 1 year into there 5yr deployment periods, he has only seen the child twice (4 day visits) in last 2 years. I guess these are my specific areas of advise or questions:

Is it better for the Mother seek child support adjustment through a county agency or hire an attorney?

Should an attempt be made through Navy supervisor or legal first?

Does a base housing allowance count toward income? Father receives $1500/month housing assistance b/c he claims the son, although he has never even visited. In the above calculation I assumed this was counted as income.

How big of a deal is being deploy-able in custody cases?

I’ve already encouraged her to try to record or attempt to get him in text or email the custody threats over money.

The state agency is a great source for child support orders and enforcement.

I would not advise contacting his employer for assistance as this might cause problems for him and make him even more reluctant to pay support.

The housing allowance should be considered as income. You should refer to the child support guidelines for more information.