When does a noncustodial parent stop paying child support? This is a complicated question that can depend on anything from the child’s age, to where the child lives, whether the child is enrolled in the military, the child’s mental and physical health, and many other factors. Generally, however, child support ends when a child has been emancipated. This article will explain what emancipation means for the purposes of child support, and how it impacts child support.
What Is Emancipation?
Emancipation means that a child is treated legally as an adult, rather than a minor. When a child has been emancipated, it typically also means that the child’s parents are no longer legally responsible for taking care of the child. The child can sign contracts, and take actions without parental approval, such as getting married.
Most often, emancipation of a child occurs at age 18, although in some states the age of emancipation is as high as 21. Also, in most states, even if emancipation occurs at age 18, it can be higher if the child is still in high school, typically 19 or 20.
In almost all states, children over the age of 18 are allowed to live on their own apart from parents, manage their own finances, and enter into legally binding agreements on their own. The emancipated child is no longer considered a minor, and can open bank accounts, sign a lease on an apartment, give medical consent to an operation, and take on all other responsibilities of being an adult.
While children are usually automatically emancipated at 18, they can be emancipated at a younger age depending on the their individual circumstances and the laws in their states.
Generally, children aged 16 may be emancipated if they are living apart from their parents and able to have a legal source of income. Children may also be emancipated to join the military. A child under the age of 18 may be emancipated by virtue of getting married.
In other instances, a judge may order that a child be emancipated. The process may vary slightly from state to state, but generally, the minor is required to file a petition for emancipation with the local court. The petition should state the reasons for emancipation, including the child’s living situation and plans for being financially self-sufficient.
The court will then hold a hearing where both the parents and child will state their reasons for or against emancipation. The judge will then grant emancipation only if it finds that it’s in the child’s best interest. Sometimes children apply for emancipation because they are independently wealthy, such as in the case of child entertainers. Other times, a child is attempting to escape an abusive household. In each case, the court will consider the facts of the child’s case for emancipation and make a ruling in the best interests of the child.
The Impact of Emancipation on Child Support
When a child has been emancipated, the parents’ obligation to pay child support ends. Emancipation means that the child has transitioned to an adult under the eyes of the law, and the parent is no longer responsible for financially supporting the child.
In states where a child is not emancipated at 18 if they have yet to graduate high school, the parent paying child support will continue to make payments until the child has graduated or reached the higher age of emancipation (19 or 20), whichever comes first. In some states, like Hawaii and Massachusetts, a parent may have to pay child support up until age 23 if the child is enrolled in college.
Child support may also be extended beyond the normal age of emancipation if a child has mental or physical disabilities that make them dependent on their parents past age 18. Check with a local family law attorney to determine what rules apply regarding child support and emancipation in your state.
When a child is emancipated prior to age 18, child support ends, just as if the child had reached the age of majority. This is why a child must be self-sufficient or have some means to be financially independent before being emancipated at a younger age. When a child is emancipated prior to age 18 due to marriage, if the marriage ends, parents may be required to provide financial support for the child.
If you have additional questions about child support and emancipation, talk to a family law attorney in your state.