Emancipation to End Child Support

Last November (2009) my ex’s tried to get a reduction on child support payments based on his employed status. The courts found in my favor and now he is trying to get my daughter emancipated all together. . Just as some background, my ex and I divorced 11 years ago and in the PSA agreement, it states that NJ law prevails (when he filed for a divorce we were both living in NJ, I later moved to NY). The PSA states that my daughter would be emancipated upon, reaching the age or 18 or is she entered college, “completion of four (4) academic year of college education”. She is now 21 in her 4th year of college. The problem is that my daughter enrolled in a 5 year BS/MS program with her father blessing. She is doing well in school but can not hold a job due to the nature of the program. Thus far, he has paid child support and contributed towards the costs of tuition/books. Now he is trying to get her emancipated to stop child support and does not want to pay for her last year of school. I would think that he has set a precedence with his support and would like to ask the courts to consider this in making their decision to #1 deny his request to emancipate her and #2 amend the PSA to cover the 5 year program. Any advice?

Is he bringing this motion in New Jersey or in New York?

Thank you for helping...Motion was filed in NJ.

My NJ property settlement agreement states that my daughter would be emancipated upon: reaching the age or 18 or is she entered college, “completion of four (4) academic year of college education”. She is now 21 in her 4th year of college. The problem is that my daughter enrolled in a 5 year BS/MS program with her father blessing. Thus far, he has paid child support and contributed towards the costs of tuition/books. Now he is trying to get her emancipated to stop child support and does not want to pay for her last year of school. I have posted here before but did not get any help...are there cases I can refer to request that the court extends his child support obligation until she graudates from the program?

I understand that New Jersey can be pretty flexible on when child support ends, as compared to most states - most states pretty much end support at age 18, perhaps extending it to 19-1/2 if the child is in high school, unless the parents agree to extend it through college or the child is disabled and as a result will remain dependent. Under the typical regime, "four years" means exactly that - the court won't expand upon the parents' agreement.

New Jersey case law (see, e.g., Hikes v Hikes) gives a family court significant discretion to determine when a child, attending college, can be deemed emancipated such that support should end. Consider searching for cases through Google Scholar (example search) or a similar site like LexisOne.

The problem you'll face is that the court SPECIFIED FOUR years, yet she signed up for a FIVE year program. Father's blessing isn't the same as a modification to the court order. That typically won't create ADDITIONAL liabilty on an existing judgement, just like having a $25 gift certificate at a restaurant won't cover a $32.50 check because the consumer made choices that inflated the bill. In such cases the consumer is expected to cover the difference, and I suspect in your daughter's case, she'll be expected to cover the difference as well (notice carefully that it's likely to be HER, as an adult, that bears that liability, not you, unless you decide to take out loans for her or front the money yourself instead of her getting student loans, working, etc.). You can certainly go back to the court and ask for an amendment. I don't like the chances that the court will make a modification for reasons as outlined above, but I suppose stranger things have happened.

Is dad paying any part of the tuition? If so, was the "blessing" being willing to pay for an additional year or schooling or did he specifically say that he would support his child through another year of school? If she's choosing to take a 5 year course, that's great for her, but he shouldn't be obligated to support an adult past the agreement already made. She'll have to figure out a way to support herself, or if you don't want her to work, you support her. Financial aid and/or loans come to mind if work isn't an option.

Just wanted to pass this information on so others can use it. My ex husband wanted to have my daughter emancipated because she will be completing 4 years of college in May. My Property Settlement Agreement indicated that my daughter would be emancipated at 18 or at the completion of 4 years of college. The court found that the right to parental support belongs to the child and the parents can not negotiate that right via a PSA. The judge found in my favor: child support will continue until my daughter finishes her degree. With that said, he does have the right to appeal the amount he is paying, but the judge warned that it would require Newburgh v. Arrigo review. "The underlying rational of the Newburgh v. Arrigo decision is that if society does not mandate the duty of parents to pay for their children’s college costs, then the number of children who go on to high education will decrease. Moreover, society will suffer if less children receive a college education"