This Week’s Pro Bono Success Story

It is not uncommon that servicemembers will receive additional, and sometimes temporary, fluctuating sources of income in addition to their base pay during the course of their military service. One Army servicemember had several of these sources of income during the time he went through a divorce and a child support order was entered. Later, after these sources of income went away, he found himself obligated under a support order almost three times what it should have been based on his current income. Additionally, he was remarried and expecting a child, and the existing support order was placing a significant financial strain on his family. Complicating matters, he was stationed in Europe and could not readily access the court system in Washington State where the order was entered. The Military Pro Bono Project located a Washington attorney willing to represent the servicemember pro bono in an action to reduce his child support. The attorney was successful in bringing the soldier’s support obligation down to the appropriate statutory level and resolving other childcare expense matters.