Can You Get Back Child Support Once Your Child Turns 18

A mother in New Jersey applied for public assistance, and thus had to take her husband to court for child support. They have long been separated, and he now lives with another woman and has had two children with that woman. His children are considered in the calculation of child support and, as a result, the mother will not actually receive anything from him because his entire support payment will go to the state. Two of their children are still minors, but one recently turned eighteen. Can the mother get an order for back child support for the child who just turned 18, in order to get some support money from the father that won't simply go to the state?

Child support in New Jersey is normally retroactive only to the date of a motion for child support, or the date of the filing of a divorce complaint that includes a request for child support. See New Jersey's anti-retroactivity statute, N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.23a. New Jersey does not appear to offer any provision for obtaining child support from a spouse prior to the date that a request for support is first made with a court.