European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 14, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                February the stars and stripes Page 9 garnishment of Federal pay by Mary Neth consumer watch editor Heidelberg when the word came out in 1977 that German courts could attach Federal pay for child sup port and some predicted there would be an Avalanche of it didst three years Usa eur at Torney Robert Dunn reports that Only 57 such garnishments of military plus four army civilian Are currently in and that All have been for child Dunn is chief of the Usa eur judge advocates Branch for foreign litigation and labor Law the office that handles such cases for the the air Force follows the same procedures in such according to the 61 Garnish ments probably All involve situations in which the Man has refused to pay vol a lot of military men Are taking care of such obligations themselves by allot ment or personal he the German youth offices Are very co and most men would rather hot have such payments come to a court or in the United the right to Garni Shee Federal pay to enforce Alimony and child support obligations was established by a 197s amendment to the social Secu Rity up to it had not been Possi ble to attach Federal salaries for any Type of a personal in a further amendment to the act made garnishment by German court order possible for military and Federal employees residing in that the German agreement is the Only one feared Avalanche of claims after 77 ruling f appear of its Type that the United states has with a foreign government and is based on the status of forces even with the the Ameri cans come off Well compared to their Ger Man under German Law when a person Falls in arrears for child support or the whole paycheck can be leaving Only a minimum to live allows Only a Maxi mum of 65 percent to be taken from a salary and that Only if the person has been in arrears for More than 12 the maximum is 55 to 60 per the German american agreement follows or whichever amount of attachment would be Dunn also explained that Only base pay can be the housing allowance is As Are amounts that must be paid in Federal social Security and other mandatory deductions such As court martial fines and the retirement funds and Money invested in real estate can be garnished under Ger Man they Are excluded under according to there Are Only two ways garnishment of military Federal pay May be made by German court the order must be made against a person living in Germany if the person is in the United the German order must be backed by one from a stateside the minute a i leaves garnishment by German court order alone said the obligation to make the payments of in either a German garnishment must be served through my where it is reviewed and judged whether it is legally dunns office checks to be sure that the service member was properly served the documents upon which the garnishment or Der is before a civil proceeding takes the complaint must be sent to the office of the judge which forwards it to the mans he is Given advice from the Legal assistance this is the initiating not the final Dunn we want to be sure the judgment does not come As a if the military did not handle it in this letters from Ger Man authorities might be if in there could be a default such a default judgment could be disputed but until it was the i would have to pay what had been decided by the Ger Man if the court order is found to be valid and it is sent to the finance office and the Money is taken from the mans next the service must be notified of the impending garnishment by certified letter within 15 Days of its being youngsters size up West Point cadets personalizing the Long Gray line West each year More than three million people visit the Mil itary Academy at West to them West Point cadets Are masses of Gray uni forms marching with uncanny precision on the Academy Parade to those who live and work at the cadets take on a More personal third graders from the West Point elementary school were what is a Cadet their answers show they have their own Way of looking at the Long Gray a Cadet is a person who eats in the mess Hall or goes to a Cadet cant go out with another Cadet until i bet they cant wait till a Cadet is a Young they sleep in the Barracks and go to school just like us a Cadet is a person who joined the army to be a they hardly get any sleep because they get up very Early and go to bed they dont get to eat cake and drink a Cadet is a student learning to be at War if anyone tried to if we did not have any cadets we would lose the War for but we have the cadets so we have a pretty Good Chance of a Cadet is very hungry and they dig out your ice a Cadet is a person who can go to football games for a Cadet thinks Navy is no a Cadet is a Man who works very hard to be a a Cadet is a rank that is lower than 3 tremors Jolt azores Lisbon up three Small tremors Shook the mid Atlantic panicking the islanders but causing no casualties or the portuguese National news Agency Anop a Cadet is a person who is in College at West at night they Are allowed to stay up As late As they but they have to be in their rooms by 11 a Cadet is a person who marches around a Field and has a a Cadet is a person who goes into the Field and who jumps off a High diving a Cadet is a Soldier that walks the area if he does anything a Cadet is someone who can jog at least five Miles a Cadet is a hardworking Man or woman who wants to be trained to work for the whole i think it takes a lot of courage and risking your life for your coun that is very friend1 Donald commander of the 32nd tac fighter so at Camp new presents the annual tvs honorary member award to Jose Prins of the honorary membership is bestowed on the dutch private citizen from the local area who Best helps promote Friendly relations be tween the dutch people and the Camp new Amsterdam military photo for by senior airman Clyde Byrd received from the the garnishment continues until arrears payments Are sat then drops monthly to the amount ordered by Dunn notes that even when child support is disputed and not being the children arc adequately the germans have an advanced social he if a member of the military whose pay is being garnished leaves Germany and at a later time the Garnish ment can be reinstated including any amount of Money not paid during his a its surprising How often a Man who has returned will go and visit the past girl she then reinstates the said who notes Hes seen cases where men have been in the great majority of garnishment cases pertain to illegitimate Dunn in cases where the Man Doest admit to he generally must hire an attorney when the Mother of the child or the youth officer takes him to court for determination of if paternity has been garnishment is handled in a different Fash the German authorities request that the Man appear at the local German office in charge of the Case to make a verifying statement and agree to pay the minimum support by that amount is then deducted from his pay by the army finance office in Europe when a garnishment order based on the acknowledgement is for air Force personnel such payments Are de ducted by the air Force finance office in collecting child support payments from an american father who has returned to the int but it can be the German wife must take the Ger Man order to the and file suit for recognition of it in a state she must go at her own expense or hire a lawyer in the to represent in some the woman Doest need to hire a lawyer the District attorney can handle the Case on behalf of the As each state has its own whether or not such an order will be legally recognized varies from state to some states dont permit others Only if payments Are in when the latter is the the woman must wait until the amount in arrears is and then go to court when payments again fall this can mean a six month or so wait Between court since the uniform reciprocal enforce ment of support act urea has been adopted by a number of states in the German authorities have been opting for betwee country reciprocal the difficulties lie in How such proceedings could be in there is an Institute which acts As a Clearing House in All actions to obtain support for wives and according to a lot of re quests Are received from this Agency in its attempts to Trace fathers who Are unwilling to we Are is he still in the army what is his unit what is his current Home address the requests for information can not always be Dunn explained that under the privacy if the Man is no longer in the such information cannot be Given unless there is already a court order determining him to be the a or he has acknowledged Dunn that since the Ger mans have a similar the Date Schutz they can accept the limitations placed by the privacy even when we can release the desired often int of much the last address May be an old for the Man May have left no for warding the germans do find this difficult to As its almost always possible to find where a German is each time a move is it must be reported to the