Do Child Support Payments Last Forever?

When marriages don’t work the way they were intended to, the parties often file for divorce or legal separation as an attempt to move on to a happier place in regards to their respective lives. Their children, however, are vulnerable to entanglement within the sometimes-nasty process. When a child is involved, child custody and child support issues are nearly inevitable. Hiller Law knows that both divorce and child custody cases may take years to settle, and the length of ordered child support payments are rarely any shorter.

As parents, we face the responsibility of assuming the financial obligations of child support. However, how long should the financial assistance last?

The General Rule

In general, child support payments continue until the child reaches the age 18, the age where they are held competent to hold a job and be financially dependable on themselves. However, there are always exceptions for when this general rule is not observed.

Exceptions

For instance, in a common scenario where the child is still attending high school at the age of 18; it is understandably confusing to contemplate the idea that child support payments should continue. However, it is the case that payments should continue to be made. For unmarried youth who have reached the age of 18, still attend high school, and are unable to provide for themselves, the financial support should continue. Yet, once the child reaches the age of 19, whether or not he is still in high school, the child support is stopped.

It is not uncommon to encounter a case where the child is mentally or physically incapacitated. Questions are raised whether the age limit of 18 years old for child support payments are applicable in this scenario. In instances like this, it can be deduced that the child is unable to provide for himself and is incapable of finding a job that provides a living wage. Once it has been proven by the court that the child is indeed mentally or physically unfit, the child support payments shall be ordered to continue. On the other hand, if the child turns 18 and decides to go to college, he would, in effect have no sufficient means to support for himself and would still require the financial support of the parents. While this is often the case, child support payments are almost never ordered to such recipients. The reasoning behind this rationale is that the adult child is no longer unable to provide for him/herself per se, i.e., is physically and mentally sound, and parents are not obliged to pay for a child’s college education.

Opt Out

In any case, however, if one or both of the parents voluntarily opt to provide support for the child, there is no rule or law that prohibits them from doing so.