Propriety of Crediting Pay Account With BAQ for Children of a Prior Marriage

An advance decision was requested as to crediting a petty officer with basic allowance for quarters (BAQ) on behalf of his children from a prior marriage. The service member has suspended support payments for his children in his ex-wife's custody, but his Social Security disability payments are paid to the children. The member stopped providing child support to his children, which would have justified continued payment of BAQ at the with dependent rate, when the disability payments began, but he continued to claim the allowance. This constituted a gratuitous bonus. Since the disability payments were designated for the member's beneficiaries from the outset, they cannot be regarded as a discharge of his child support responsibilities. GAO has no jurisdiction over the propriety of the payment of Social Security benefits in behalf of the injured member, who was still on active duty and was not separated from the service for reasons of physical disability.