Veterans' Disability Education Benefits: Who Should Get the Credit?

The Iowa Court of Appeals in In Re Marriage of Turner http://www.judicial.state.ia.us/court_of_appeals/Recent_Opinions/20070523/7-234.pdf recently addressed the issue of how Veteran's Disability Education Benefits should be applied to parents' post-secondary education responsibility. In Iowa, and depending on the circumstances, each parent may be liable for up to 33.33% of a child's post-secondary education expenses (using in-state tuition as a basis).

In Turner, the father, who received the Education Benefits as a result of his military service argued that the trial court erred because it treated the benefit as the child's resource without crediting it against his proprotionate share of his daughter's college expenses. The Court of Appeals had a different interpretation that was nonetheless to the father's benefit.

The Court of Appeals compared it to Social Security Disability or retirement benefits paid directly to a child but are counted as parental income and credited against the parent's child support obligation. The Court determined that the same approach should be applied in this case and the benefits should be counted as income to the father and credited against his share of his daughter's post-secondary education expenses.

This is an important issue because if your child is entitled to receive governmental benefits you may be entitled to a credit against your child support or other support obligation. Speak to an Iowa family law attorney to discuss what benefits these laws may provide you.