BAH, Base Pay, Allowances, and How the Full Calculation Works Under Texas Family Code
Texas calculates military child support the same way it calculates civilian child support, with one catch: the income side of the equation is bigger than most people expect. Under Texas Family Code § 154.062, courts count nearly every dollar a service member receives, including tax-free allowances that never appear on a W-2. If you’re a military parent stationed near Joint Base San Antonio or a spouse heading into a military divorce, that broader income definition can shift the final support number by hundreds of dollars a month.
What Counts as Income When a Parent Is in the Military
Texas defines child support income as net resources. For civilians, that usually means wages, salary, commissions, and a few other sources. For military families, the list is longer because the military pays people in a mix of taxable pay and tax-free allowances, and Texas courts count both.
Base Pay
Base pay is the service member’s rank-and-time-in-service salary. It’s the largest single line item on most service members’ pay, and it’s always included in the child support calculation. Courts pull this number directly from the member’s Leave and Earnings Statement (LES), which is the military equivalent of a civilian pay stub but with more detail.
BAH and BAS
Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) counts as income for child support purposes in Texas. BAH rates vary by duty station, rank, and whether the member has dependents. A service member stationed at Lackland AFB in San Antonio will have a different BAH rate than someone at Fort Cavazos or a base in California. The rate changes every year, and it changes again if the member gets PCS orders to a new location.
Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) also counts. BAS is a flat monthly amount meant to offset food costs. For 2026, enlisted BAS runs around $452 per month and officer BAS around $311 per month. Those numbers get added to the income total just like base pay.
The fact that BAH and BAS are tax-free does not matter. Texas courts look at what money is available to the parent, not how the IRS classifies it. If the service member receives it, the court includes it.
Special and Incentive Pay
The income calculation doesn’t stop at base pay and allowances. Texas courts also include:
- COLA (Cost of Living Allowance): paid when a service member is stationed in a high-cost area, stateside or overseas
- Hazard pay and hostile fire pay: additional compensation for serving in dangerous conditions
- Flight pay: paid to aircrew members who maintain flight status
- Sea pay: paid for extended duty aboard a vessel
- Special duty assignment pay: for positions that carry unusual responsibility or working conditions
- Reenlistment bonuses: lump-sum payments that courts can average over the bonus period
If it shows up on the LES as compensation, it’s fair game. The only real exceptions are one-time reimbursements for actual out-of-pocket expenses, like a PCS travel voucher covering gas and hotel costs for a required move.
How Texas Calculates Net Resources for a Service Member
Once the court identifies every income source, it subtracts a specific set of deductions to arrive at net resources. This is the number the child support percentages apply to.
What Gets Deducted
Texas Family Code § 154.062 allows these deductions from gross income:
- Federal income tax based on the tax rate for a single filer with the standard deduction. This is a statutory formula, not the service member’s actual tax bill. Even if the member is married filing jointly or itemizes deductions, the court uses the single-filer rate. For tax-free allowances like BAH and BAS, there’s no federal tax to deduct on that portion, which means more of the total compensation flows through to net resources.
- Social Security taxes (OASDI): 6.2% of taxable wages up to the annual wage base.
- Medicare taxes: 1.45% of all taxable wages.
- Health insurance premiums for the child. If the service member covers the child on TRICARE and pays nothing out of pocket, this deduction is zero. If they carry additional coverage, the premium amount comes off.
- Union dues, if applicable. Rare in the military, but the statute allows it.
What does not get deducted: rent, car payments, credit card debt, voluntary allotments to savings, TSP contributions, or any other personal expense. The court doesn’t care what the service member spends money on. It only subtracts what the statute says it can.
After deductions, the remaining amount is the service member’s monthly net resources.
The Percentage Guidelines: How Much Child Support the Court Orders
Texas applies a flat percentage of net resources based on the number of children before the court. Under Texas Family Code § 154.125, the presumptive guidelines are:
| Number of Children | Percentage of Net Resources |
|---|---|
| 1 child | 20% |
| 2 children | 25% |
| 3 children | 30% |
| 4 children | 35% |
| 5 or more children | 40% |
These are presumptive, meaning the court applies them unless there’s a reason to deviate. A judge can order more or less than the guideline amount, but must state the reasons on the record.
If the obligor (the parent paying support) has children from another relationship who they’re legally obligated to support, the percentages drop under a separate table in § 154.129. For example, a service member paying support for one child before the court who also supports one child from another relationship would pay 17.5% instead of 20%.
The Net Resources Cap and What Happens Above It
Texas child support guidelines apply presumptively only up to a net resources cap, which is periodically adjusted for inflation. As of the most recent adjustment, that cap is $9,200 per month in net resources.
For most enlisted service members, total compensation falls below the cap. But senior NCOs with long careers, warrant officers, and commissioned officers, especially those receiving BAH in high-cost areas plus special pays, can push past it.
When net resources exceed the cap, the court applies the percentage to the first $9,200 and then decides whether to order additional support based on the proven needs of the child. That’s a separate analysis. The parent requesting additional support has to show actual expenses: school tuition, medical costs, extracurricular activities, childcare. The court won’t just apply 20% to the entire income. Above the cap, it’s about what the child actually needs, backed by evidence.
Why the DFAS Garnishment Rules Don’t Match the Court’s Calculation
This is one of the most confusing parts of military child support, and it catches both service members and custodial parents off guard.
Texas courts count BAH, BAS, and other allowances as income when calculating what a service member owes. But the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) can only garnish disposable pay, which under federal law excludes BAH, BAS, and family separation allowances. So there’s a gap between what the court orders and what DFAS can automatically withhold.
Practically, this means a court might order $1,800 per month in child support based on total military compensation, but DFAS may only be able to withhold $1,400 from disposable pay. The service member is responsible for paying the $400 difference directly. Falling behind because “DFAS doesn’t take enough out of my check” is not a defense to an enforcement action. The obligation is the court order amount, not the garnishment amount.
DFAS also has federal caps on how much it will garnish:
- 60% of disposable pay if the member is not supporting other dependents outside the order
- 50% if the member is supporting other dependents
- An additional 5% on top of either limit if the member has a support arrearage older than 12 weeks
If you’re the custodial parent and the withholding isn’t covering the full order, document the shortfall and talk to your attorney about enforcement options.
Combat Zone Tax Exclusions and Fluctuating Income
Service members deployed to designated combat zones can have part or all of their income excluded from federal taxes. For enlisted members, the entire monthly pay is typically tax-exempt during combat zone service. For officers, the exclusion is capped at the highest enlisted pay rate plus hostile fire pay.
This matters for child support because the tax deduction is one of the items subtracted from gross income to calculate net resources. When there’s less tax to deduct, net resources go up, even though the service member’s gross pay didn’t change. A parent deployed to a combat zone might actually see a higher child support calculation during deployment than during garrison duty, which catches many people off guard.
Military income also fluctuates outside of combat zones. Deployment pay, temporary duty (TDY) allowances, reenlistment bonuses, and seasonal special pays can spike income in some months and disappear in others. Texas courts handle this by averaging income over a reasonable period, usually six to twelve months, rather than basing the entire calculation on one unusually high or low paycheck.
How PCS Orders and Custody Arrangements Affect Support
A Permanent Change of Station (PCS) can change the child support calculation in two ways.
First, BAH rates are tied to the duty station’s zip code. A service member who PCSs from San Antonio to Washington, D.C. will see a significant jump in BAH. Since BAH counts as income, that increase raises net resources and can raise the child support obligation. The reverse is also true. A move to a lower-cost area drops BAH and could justify a lower payment.
Second, a PCS that disrupts the existing custody schedule may qualify as a material and substantial change in circumstances under Texas Family Code § 156.401. That’s the legal threshold for requesting a modification of a child support or custody order. A PCS alone doesn’t automatically change anything. You have to go back to court and file for it.
What to Do If You Think the Calculation Is Wrong
Pull the service member’s LES and compare every line item to what the court used in its calculation. Common errors include:
- Missing allowances. A court that only calculated support on base pay and missed BAH, BAS, or special pays underestimated net resources.
- Wrong BAH rate. BAH changes annually and varies by location. If the order used an outdated rate or the wrong duty station, the number is off.
- Ignoring the multiple-family adjustment. If the obligor has children from another relationship, the percentage should reflect that. If it doesn’t, the order may be too high.
- Miscalculating tax deductions. The court must use the single-filer standard-deduction rate, not the member’s actual tax bracket. Using the wrong rate skews the net resources figure in either direction.
If you find an error, or if a PCS, promotion, or change in allowances has shifted income enough to matter, you can file a petition to modify the child support order. You’ll need to show a material and substantial change in circumstances. For military families near San Antonio, working with an attorney who reads an LES as fluently as a civilian pay stub can make the difference between catching a mistake early and overpaying or underpaying for months.
FAQs About Military Child Support in Texas
Does the court use my actual tax return to calculate child support?
No. Texas law requires the court to calculate federal income tax using the rate for a single filer claiming the standard deduction, regardless of how the service member actually files. If you’re married filing jointly or itemize deductions, the court’s tax figure will be different from what you actually pay.
Can child support be taken directly from military retirement pay?
Yes. If a service member retires and still owes child support, DFAS can garnish military retired pay the same way it garnishes active-duty pay. The same disposable pay rules and percentage caps apply.
What happens to child support if I deploy and my income drops?
If deployment reduces your total compensation (for example, losing special duty pay or a location-based allowance), you can request a temporary modification. Don’t wait until you’re behind on payments. File the request before or as soon as the income change happens.
Does VA disability pay count as income for child support in Texas?
Yes. Texas Family Code § 154.062(b) specifically includes “all other income actually being received” in the net resources calculation. VA disability compensation counts, even though it’s not taxable and DFAS can’t garnish it.
Is there a minimum child support amount in Texas for military parents?
Texas doesn’t set a fixed-dollar minimum, but the presumptive guideline percentages apply to whatever net resources exist. If a service member’s net resources are very low, the court can set support below the guideline amount, but it must explain why on the record.
Can my ex and I agree to a child support amount without using the guidelines?
You can agree to a different amount, but the court has to approve it. If the agreed amount is below the guidelines, the court will scrutinize whether it serves the child’s best interests. The judge can reject an agreement that shortchanges the child, especially if one parent was pressured into accepting less.
How often should military child support be reviewed?
There’s no required review schedule, but a review makes sense any time there’s a promotion, PCS to a new duty station, reenlistment with a bonus, retirement, separation from the military, or any other change that shifts net resources significantly. The threshold for modification is a material and substantial change in circumstances.
What if the other parent won’t provide their LES?
If you’re the custodial parent and the service member won’t voluntarily share their LES, your attorney can obtain it through discovery during the court process. The court can also order the service member to produce it. Refusing to disclose income documents doesn’t make them disappear. It just makes the judge less sympathetic.
Get the Right Number Before It Becomes a Court Order
Military child support calculations in Texas involve more moving parts than most people realize, and the wrong number on the front end can cost you thousands over the life of an order. If you’re a service member, a military spouse, or a parent dealing with a support dispute near Joint Base San Antonio, don’t guess at the math.
Call Brandi Wolfe Law at (210) 571-0400 or schedule a free consultation to review your situation with a San Antonio family law attorney who knows how to read an LES and hold a court to the right calculation.
This article is general information, not legal advice for your specific case. If you have questions about military child support, talk to a Texas family law attorney before making decisions based on what you’ve read here.