Dealt with an interesting situation recently that came out well for our client...the issue is when does a child become emancipated and thus the child support obligation stops.

My case dealt with a child who had just turned 18 and it was a question of whether or not he was still attending school. We filed a petition to terminate support when the child turned 18 because he'd dropped out of school but the mother kept coming into court trying to show that the child was still in school. Eventually we subpoenaed a GED provider and they said the kid was out of the program so we got support stopped effective at the child's 18th birthday.

Remember when child support stops...I think there are a lot of misperceptions out there. It stops at one of four possible times:

A) Child turns 18. This was my case above. If you have a child NOT attending high school it stops when he/she turns 18.

B) Child graduates high school. This is likely the most popular option. Most kids graduate high school during their 18th year; support should terminate at the same time the child graduates high school.

C) Child turns 19. If a child is still in school when he/she turns 19, support should time at the 19th birthday.

D) Child is emancipated. This is rare but I do hear it come up every so often. This situation is when a child essentially would be self-sustaining or married prior to his/her 18th birthday. Or perhaps he/she joined the military.