Matter of Marriage of Cope

This case involves the sole question of whether or not social security payments for the benefit of a child resulting from the father’s eligibility and paid directly to the mother should be credited to the father’s support obligation.

When the parties’ marriage was dissolved, the decree awarded custody of their three-year-old son to the mother. The father was required to make child support payments in the amount of $150 per month through the clerk of Coos County. The decree was subsequently modified to reduce the father’s payments to $1,500 per year and to provide “that all future support…