All 270,000 men who owe alimony have lost their benefits and may be in trouble.

270,000 men may be in trouble due to alimony arrears and all benefits will be lost. Thousands of poor and disabled men who rely on federal benefits will lose their only income starting next year because...

Thousands of poor and disabled men who rely on federal benefits will lose their only income starting next year because of a new Treasury Department rule that allows states to confiscate all federal benefits from people who owe child support. Under the old rules, states could only confiscate 65% of benefits from people who chose to issue checks. Rights activists estimate that 275,000 people may be in trouble after the law is revised. The concern is an unexpected result of the Treasury Department's decision to make all benefits, including Social Security, disability and veterans' benefits, electronic starting next year. In view of the fact that the Treasury Department passed another rule in May last year, giving the state the power to freeze the bank accounts of beneficiaries who receive federal benefits and owe child support. If the state government confiscates the remaining 35% of benefits in the future, thousands of poor people will lose their only income. In many cases where child support is owed, it is an old debt that is decades old. The children have long since grown up. Most of the money owed is interest and fees that have been accumulated due to the debtor's inability to pay due to disability, rehab, or prison. In addition, experts pointed out that the money currently confiscated from welfare payments by the authorities is mainly collected into the public treasury rather than returned to dependent children, because the state can regard the confiscated money as compensation for the welfare provided to children in the past. Hyland, a Chicago attorney who specializes in assisting the poor, said: "The Treasury Department's regulations ignore the fact that most of the forfeited money is interest and is paid to the state; the dependent children are often already adults. This will only leave the people who are being recovered impoverished."