The New Law Concerning the Termination of Child Support
Earlier this year Governor Christine signed S-1046 / A-2721 into law. It is now been established that child support will end when a child reaches the age of 19 (rather than a rebuttable presumption that it ends at age 18). However, child support could still continue up to age 23 under certain circumstances as follows:
* The child is still in high school
* The child is attending full-time college, vocational or graduate school
* The child is disabled
* The parties entered into an agreement for support beyond age 19
* If ordered by the court
The effective date of this law is February 1, 2017 and it applies to all child support orders- past, present and future. Starting February 1, 2017, the Probation Department is going to start sending notices to those people who will be effected at that time with these changes. If you have a case with the Probation Department (either as the payor or payee of support), it is imperative that you keep your address and contact information current with the agency at all times.
So, what does this mean for you if you are receiving child support? If one of the five circumstances outlined above are not present in your case then you can assume that the child support payments will stop when your child reaches age 19. If there are arrears (monies owed for past non payment) on the account those arrears will remain in place.
However, if one of these five circumstances are applicable and/or of you have other younger children for which child support will need to be reviewed and recalculated, you need to let Probation know what is going on sooner rather than later. It may be necessary to file a motion with the court seeking to address these issues. Again, be mindful of the timing. You do not want to be in a position of having to file a motion after your child has already turned 19.
All of the attorneys at Domers & Bonamassa are well versed and have years of experience addressing family law issues, no matter how complicated. Contact us today at (856) 596-2888 for a private consultation. We appear in the following counties: Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Cumberland, Salem, Mercer, Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May. Our practice areas include: divorce, custody, parenting time, child support, alimony, domestic violence, college expenses, equitable distribution, name changes, step parent adoptions, paternity issues, child abuse and neglect, prenuptial agreements, mediation and arbitration.
This posting is provided by Domers & Bonamassa, P.C. for their clients, advisors and other interested persons. Since technical information is presented in a generalized fashion, the communication is not meant to replace the need for competent professional advice and the reader should understand that the information contained in or made available through this communication is not intended to be a substitute for the services of trained professionals. As such, the reader should evaluate and bear all risks associated with the use of any comments, including any reliance on accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such content.
