Family Issues for Veterans
Legal Information
Information and resources about Family Issues for Veterans and Military personnel in Pennsylvania.
Click on a resource category listed below to see information related to that category.
DoD Safe Helpline
DoD Safe Helpline is the sole secure, confidential, and anonymous crisis support service specially designed for members of the Department of Defense community affected by sexual assault.
Stateside Legal
Stateside Legal is a national resource for members of the military, veterans, their families and advocates. It goal is to help you access benefits, find free legal help, and better understand your legal issues. This site indexes the best legal information available in one easy-to-use website that includes interactive forms, videos, and legal analysis.
Veterans Legal Help Navigator
This online tool from Stateside Legal helps veterans' caseworkers and advocates across the country find the right fit legal help for veterans. The Navigator will ask a series of questions about the veteran's income, household size, location and legal issue. Using this information, it will provide the right fit legal help for the veteran. The Navigator will also suggest resources to learn about the veteran’s legal issue and self-help materials for the veteran.
Are You a Veteran Needing Help With a Legal Question? - ABA Free Legal Answers
Information from the American Bar Association Military and Veterans Legal Center about Federal ABA Free Legal Answers, a website where you can submit your questions about civil legal issues pertaining to veterans, including VA benefits, discharge upgrades, and similar veterans’ legal issues, and receive answers from pro bono lawyers.
Benefits.gov
Benefits.gov is the official benefits website of the U.S. government whose mission is to increase citizen access to benefit information, while reducing the expense and difficulty of interacting with the government. It is a free, online confidential tool that helps you find government benefits you may be eligible to receive.
Federal Court Finder
Find a federal court location by location or court name, including appellate, district, bankruptcy, probation and pretrial office, or federal defender organization. Each District Court has its own local forms which are generally available on the Court website.
A Handbook for Military Families - Helping You with Child Support
This handbook from the Office of Child Support Enforcement provides information a military family might need regarding paternity establishment, child support, access/visitation, and child custody. [PDF]
Child Support and Alimony - How to Start Child Support or Alimony Payments
Federal law authorizes the pay of active, reserve, and retired members of the military and the pay of civilian employees of the Federal government to be garnished (or attached) for the payment of child and/or spousal support. This provides information about the process and location for getting a garnishment or wage attachment against any member of the military or any civilian employee of the Department of Defense (DOD).
Child Support and Alimony - Questions and Answers
Questions and answers about the collection of child support and alimony from military personnel from the Defense Finance and Accounting Services.
Ending Homelessness Among Veterans: The OCSE-VA-ABA Collaboration Project
This fact sheet focuses on the early implementation of a collaboration among the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the American Bar Association. The collaboration helps homeless veterans with child support obligations to gain permanent housing.
Garnishment: Military
List of resources and sources of information regarding garnishment of military wages from the U.S. Defense Finance and Accounting Service.
Uniformed Services Former Spouse's Protection Act - Frequently Asked Questions
Information from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service on the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act which recognizes the right of state courts to distribute military retired pay to a spouse or former spouse and provides a method of enforcing these orders through the Department of Defense. The Act also provides a method of enforcing current child support and/or arrears and current alimony awarded in the court order.
I am a Dependent or Survivor: Survivor Benefits
Information from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs about Survivor Benefits available to surviving spouses and dependents of military personnel who died while in active military service and to the survivors of veterans who died after active service.
Life Insurance
Information from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs on insurance programs that were developed to provide insurance benefits for veterans and service members who may not be able to get insurance from private companies because of the extra risks involved in military service, or a service connected disability.
Military Retired and Annuitant Pay Information
Information from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service about retirement and annuitant pay.
Survivors Benefits Plan (Department of Defense)
Information from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, which provides payment services of the U.S. Department of Defense, about the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) available to a beneficiary of a deceased military retiree.
Disability Compensation
Information from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs on Disability Compensation, which is a tax free monetary benefit paid to Veterans with disabilities that are the result of a disease or injury incurred or aggravated during active military service. Compensation may also be paid for post-service disabilities that are considered related or secondary to disabilities occurring in service and for disabilities presumed to be related to circumstances of military service, even though they may arise after service.
DoD Safe Helpline
DoD Safe Helpline is the sole secure, confidential, and anonymous crisis support service specially designed for members of the Department of Defense community affected by sexual assault.
Malmstrom Special Victims' Counsel
The Malmstrom Air Force Base Special Victims' Counsel (SVC) assists eligible victims through most criminal and civil legal matters relating to a reported sexual assault, whether restricted or unrestricted.
PA Courts Public Access Policy - Filing Requirements in the Courts (Video)
Effective on January 6, 2018, a new Public Access Policy is in effect in Pennsylvania Courts. This policy imposes requirements on anyone filing court documents in the trial and appellate courts to safeguard information in the documents they file. The Pennsylvania Courts have released this series of videos that explain the judiciary’s new policy for protecting confidential information and the required steps you must take to protect that information when filing documents in the courts.
Military Child Care Programs
Resources from Child Care Aware of America to help those who serve in the military find and afford child care that suits their unique needs.
Scholarships for Military Children
Information on the Scholarships for Military Children Program that was created to recognize the contributions of military families to the readiness of the fighting force and to celebrate the role of the commissary in the military family community.
Child Care Aware - Fee Assistance / Respite
Child Care Aware® of America is proud to partner with the United States Military and Department of Defense to serve and support their families through the Fee Assistance and Respite Child Care Programs.
Your Appeal for Veterans Benefits to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
Information on filing an appeal of a decision of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program provides free attorneys to veterans and their qualifying family members who have an appeal pending at the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). If an appellant has filed an appeal with the Court and has been unable to obtain his or her own attorney he or she can request assistance from the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program.
Organizations Offering Assistance to Veterans
Essential List of Organizations Helping Military Families in Need--This is a compilation of organizations from Veterans United for Truth that provide help with disability claims, discharge disputes, VA guidance and legal conflicts. Some provide job training, continued education and connections to employers. Others offer medical care, psychological treatment, crisis counseling and emotional healing. [PDF]