A Nassau County terminate child support lawyer will sit down with you to figure out whether or not your circumstances meet the grounds to terminate child support. A terminate child support lawyer in New York will be able to help you prepare the necessary evidence to illustrate to the court that there has been a significant change in circumstances without the help of a Nassau County terminate child support attorney, you may find yourself continuing to pay child support even though your case meets the grounds for discontinuation of these payments.
One of the most common questions asked of family lawyers is when someone can stop making child support payments. Both parents have a responsibility to continue to support their child financially until the children reach age twenty-one. This is true regardless of who has custody; however, the child support orders are typically enforced against those individuals who do not have primary custody of the children. However, there are certain circumstances when the courts will terminate child support payment.
Unless the parents have agreed to do something different, the child support stops at the age of 21. If you’re concerned about making updates to existing orders, you should sit down first with your lawyer to go over the requirements and to learn what to expect. You can’t make a decision going forward until you know how the law and judges view requests for modification. It’s never easy to be in this position, but make sure you can entrust your case to a lawyer who will help you.
You can of course always generate a child support agreement on your own outside of the courts but if you fail to come to an agreement with the other spouse, you will need to allow these issues to go in front of a judge. If the parents come to their agreement on their own, they can put this in a legal separation or divorce agreement. Many parents will still choose to help their children out with college support and educational payments but this is considered voluntary support rather than child support directly. Child support can be discontinued at emancipation. There are other ways that a child could be classified as emancipated aside from reaching age twenty-one.
Children are considered emancipated, for example, if they become economically dependent due to full-time employment, getting married or entering military service or military academy. Temporary employment or even full-time employment over the course of the summer would not qualify to meet these grounds. A child could also be considered emancipated if they were at employable age and in full possession of their faculties and willfully abandon their home against the will of the parents and for the purpose of getting away from parental control. In the event that the child has voluntarily refused all visitation and contact with a non-custodial parent, they can be classified as emancipated.
A child is not usually considered emancipated if they leave the home for good with the approval of the non-custodial parents. Simply attending college away from home, for example, does not met these grounds. When a child is considered emancipated due to their own actions or economic independence, this only suspends an obligation to provide child support that would otherwise continue until age twenty-one. If the child gets married, for example, but then later files for divorce, he or she is no longer capable of supporting themselves and may still be eligible to receive child support sent to the other parent. If you find yourself in this situation, you need an attorney who has practiced in this field for years.