Debra Childs

As promised during today's hearing, I have submitted my full testimony (below) as well as a list of states that have implemented similar legislation... in particular: Puerto Rico which has a very similar law as proposed in HB 1263. Also, please note - after the hearing, we discussed an amendment to the current HB 1263 which would keep military retirement as gross income but remove it as marital property; we believe this will resolve some of the concerns addressed in committee today. Thank you for your consideration. Testimony: NH HB1263 (2026) Thank you, Madame Chair and Honorable Committee members, My name is Debra Childs, and I live in Dover, NH in Strafford County, and I am here in strong support of HB 1263. I am the Executive Director of a nonprofit called Time to Put Kids First, where we help families who are navigating separation, divorce, and child-custody disputes. Through that work, I’ve heard from countless veterans and military families about how confusing and, in some cases, deeply unfair the treatment of military retirement pay can be in family court. From my work with families, I can tell you this issue is not theoretical. I’ve heard from parents who served their country for decades and now find themselves unable to meet basic living expenses because of how their retirement pay was classified and used in court orders that were never designed for the military system. Just this past weekend, I spoke with a 22-year Army vet—his retirement got cut 40% because a judge counted ‘waived disability pay’ as ‘available.’ This man, who served his country with honor, can’t afford to keep a roof over his head. Military retirement is governed by federal law, and federal law already draws clear distinctions between what portion of retired pay is considered disposable and what portion is legally protected—such as amounts waived to receive disability benefits and amounts deducted for survivor benefit premiums. New Hampshire law, however, does not clearly reflect those distinctions. As a result, military retirement is often treated the same as a civilian pension, even though the structure, the legal limits, and the federal rules that control military retired pay are fundamentally different. When state law ignores those federal realities, our courts are left trying to apply civilian pension rules to a military system that simply does not operate the same way. The result is confusion, inconsistent rulings, and, too often, support orders based on income that is not actually available to be paid. HB 1263 fixes that. It aligns NH law with the way military retirement pay actually works under federal law. It clearly defines what “disposable military retirement pay” means, confirms that it is not marital property, and establishes predictable, workable rules for how alimony sourced from that pay is handled when a service member reaches retirement, and it applies the same rules to everyone. Judges will still retain authority to order and modify alimony. Courts will still be able to respond to real financial need. This bill does not favor veterans over former spouses. It simply ensures support decisions are based on income that actually exists and can more realistically be paid. We often say we support our veterans. We thank them for their service. We applaud their sacrifice. Gratitude should be more than words. JFK once said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” How do we truly thank someone who missed birthdays, holidays, and sacrificed precious time with their children—who accepted danger, deployments, and permanent disruption to their families—so that the rest of us could live in safety? I can say what we shouldn’t do. We shouldn’t take away their retirement they rightfully earned. We shouldn’t tolerate inconsistency in our legal system that singles out our military with unfair garnishments. We shouldn’t turn our backs on those who gave so much of themselves to preserve our safety and freedom. We shouldn’t allow our service members to live paycheck to paycheck, or worse, destitute because of a loophole that legally requires them to pay money they do not have. We thank them by ensuring they are protected as they protected us, and that our legal system treats their retirement and them with fairness, respect, and dignity. HB 1263 is a small but meaningful step in doing exactly that. Vote yes on HB 1263—let’s protect those who protected us. Thank you. States w/ similar laws: Puerto Rico Alabama Indiana Arkansas Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico has essentially what we are proposing in NH. This works because Military retirement pay is not automatically divisible - retirees keep their pensions as separate property and former spouses still receive support. This shows a real-life example of a jurisdiction where military retirement pay isn't treated like a civilian pension and yet people still have fair outcomes through spousal / child support systems.