Va Form 21-674 and child support
My ex-husband ceased to pay child support as of June of this year for our two teenage kids. I have a pending court case of over 4 months and nothing has been processed. ETA: We have an original court case from our divorce in 2016 that he has not been abiding by. Our original case was that he makes direct payments to me. This case is from another state that he nor I no longer live in so my current state is requiring I open a new court case for full enforcement.
I previously knew I could have an apportionment garnishment but it was never necessary. However, I now see that this is no longer an option as of January 2026. My ex-husband, who is 100 percent disability rated, also is no longer speaking to me since June of this year. My concern is that our oldest turns 18 in about 7 weeks and is a high school senior. I was looking into it today about the VA Form 21-674 and I am wondering what’s the best route to take or if I need my ex-husband to sign anything. I was looking at the form and I saw that my child can sign it himself once he turns 18 which is the age of majority?
One might wonder why I’m even doing this considering my ex-husband has never sent me the VA money he gets per child and he keeps it himself and even moreso now that he’s not giving me any child support. My thought process is I would rather let the VA know what the current school status of my son is as he transitions to college so he is able to receive the Chapter 35 benefits in college.
I guess my questions are should I wait until he turns 18 and have him fill out the form and send it in ourselves even without my ex-husband’s signature? I really don’t care if there’s a gap in the payment because we don’t receive it anyways. Or can I fill this form out now and sign it myself as the guardian of my son? And lastly, I am curious if anyone else has been in my same position with no longer having access to apportionment options? I was told that the state I live in could have the state he lives in garnish his wages, but he was fired from his job in April and his only wages that I know as of now are from the VA. I was also told that the state cannot garnish VA wages directly since it’s a protected benefit. Can I call the VA line myself since I’m not a veteran? I did send messages to my ex-husband for the first time in over three months today as I was letting the states handle the child support aspect and today I mentioned to him about this situation with our son turning 18 but he is not responding to me and I do not suspect he will. It is my understanding that his new wife has forbidden him from being in contact with me. We have maintained a great coparenting relationship for the past 13 years prior to all this which is why I never had child support going through the courts.