Claim by Military Member for Basic Allowance for Quarters

A Navy enlisted member claimed basic allowance quarters (BAQ) at the "with dependents" rate on the basis that he was required by a court order to pay child support. His former spouse had custody of the child. She had refused to accept child support payments, so the member deposited them in an irrevocable trust fund with the child as the only beneficiary. The former spouse was currently married to another service member. As she could not be reached, it could not be determined if she was quartered in Government housing. The responsible service officials refused to accept the member's payments to the trust fund as sufficient evidence of his support of the child for BAQ purposes. It has been held that entitlement to BAQ as a member "with dependents" is not authorized where the member has been absolved of the responsibility to support them. Also, a member can not be paid this allowance when the dependents in question are quartered in Government housing even though the member's support payments have not been decreased. Since there was no evidence that the increased BAQ was used for support of the dependent child, and in view of the question concerning whether the child was living in Government quarters, the Navy's determination that the BAQ should not be paid was held to be correct. In any case, the Navy's determination of dependency was not subject to GAO review.