My brother is on ssdi for ms. He married a person with 3 children (not his of course). The English court system is trying to garnish his 1600/month for alimony/child support. Can they do that? What action can we take? Right now we are on an extension for the English courts NOT to garnish his ssdi.

Need more details -

Your brother is a US citizen, collecting SSDI because he has M.S. He is married to a woman who has three children.

The English (US?) legal system is attempting to enforce an order that he pay $1,600 a month in alimony OR child support. Which is it or is that the combined total of both?

How do the wife and 3 children factor into the legal problem?

Does he have legal counsel in both the US and the UK? Has he notified the UK that that is as much as he receives in benefits in order to freeze or lower ongoing monies due while working out the arrearages or current Order?

My brother is a us citizen. He was married & lived in england w/ this woman. These are her children from another marriage-Not his children. The English legal system is trying to garnish his only income ssdi (totaling 1600.00) for about 500/month for child support/alimony. That leaves him 1100.00 to live on. He is in a wheelchair & lives with his parents because he is unable to live by himself for 1600.00!

How can they collect any alimony OR child support under these conditions? He has no representation as of yet. My family cannot afford to do so. We are seeking assistance from free legal advice in Monmouth county but that takes time. We have gotten an extension. Can we freeze something on the us side? I very much appreciate your timely response already.

First, please keep your posts on this matter to this one thread. I've removed the other thread.

SSDI is attachable for child/spousal support. So the question becomes, whether a British court ruled that he is required to pay this support. If such a court did issue such a ruling, did he participate in the hearings?

How long was he married? While US law generally does not make step parents responsible for support, I believe the UK will under certain conditions.

Is your brother back in the US? I would try contacting the ADA (American Disabilities Association--http://adanet.org/) They may be able to help with legal representation.

But a step parent if they meet certain requirements have been known to be held liable for child support. Obviously this is the case there unless the wife committed some fraud in filing.

The case needs to be reviewed by an attorney.

Also there may be a way to drastically reduce the child support end on the order depending on how it is calculated. If he is legally responsible by court order for the children then they may also be eligible to draw from the ssdi too. And those funds may caus a decrease in the actual amount of child support being paid.

I think we need more details - are the benefits being garnished because of failure to pay as well as WHO is he paying child support for? Is he also paying the spousal support to the mother of those children?

- Talking to myself, I guess.