Especially in the current economic climate, it is particularly hard for children to become financially independent of their parents. With this, you may be worried about how your child will survive when they get cut off from their noncustodial parent’s monthly child support payments. And while you may try to help them as much as you can for as long as you can, you may have other expenses, along with minor children, to prioritize. With all that being said, please follow along to find out the cutoff age for child support and how one of the proficient Somerset County child support lawyers at the Law Offices of Kisha M. Hebbon, LLC can work to ensure your child does not get gypped with the funds they are entitled to.
In the state of New Jersey, a child is considered to become an adult at the age of 18. This means that all your parental rights transfer over to your child. However, even though they are a legal adult at 18, their receiving of child support payments may extend to one more year. That is, your child’s noncustodial parent may be expected to uphold their obligation until your child’s 19th birthday.
Of note, there are circumstances in which the New Jersey family court may allow these payments to extend beyond the traditional 19th birthday cutoff date. For example, if your child is pursuing a higher education, or if they have a physical or mental disability that comes with special needs. Specifically, this extension may last up until your child’s 23rd birthday.
On the other hand, the court may weigh cutting these payments short. This may apply if your child has legally emancipated themselves, has legally gotten married, or has enlisted in the United States military before the age of 19.
Say, for instance, that you and your former spouse share multiple children. Then, say your eldest child has reached the age of 19.
With this significant birthday passing, you may worry that your former spouse will stop fulfilling their child support obligation altogether. However, they are still responsible for supporting your other minor children. The only thing that may be different is that they may give less in child support payments each month, to subtract the child who is no longer part of this plan.
Of note, the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines hold that the greater the number of children in your family, the greater the percentage of adjusted income you and your former spouse are supposed to contribute toward supporting them. So, say you have two minor children now instead of three. Now, you may be expected to contribute 25 percent of your adjusted income rather than 29 percent.
This blog is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to child support laws in the state of New Jersey. So for more information, please reach out to one of the talented Somerset County family lawyers from the Law Offices of Kisha M. Hebbon, LLC.
