What Happens to Child Support When a Special Needs Child Reaches 18? By Amy A. Edwards Before 1979, North Carolina parents had a legal obligation to support their child if he or she was mentally or physically incapable of self-support upon reaching age 18, the age of majority. There was considerable debate about whether to keep parents’ responsibility in place or end support at age 18. Now, although there aren’t any specific child support laws for children who have special needs, support can be extended to a maximum age of 20 in certain circumstances. Support can’t be ordered past age 20 unless the parent signs a contract saying so. Child Support Law In North Carolina, unless there’s a contract that says otherwise, child support continues after age 18 if “the child is still in primary or secondary school when the child reaches age 18.” In that event, support continues until “the child graduates. . . ceases to attend school on a regular basis, fails to make satisfactory academic progress towards graduation, or reaches age 20, whichever comes first.” NC Gen. Stat. §50-13.4. Non-Traditional Progress In 2001, forty years after repealing the statute that required parents to support their child if he or she was incapable of self-support, our Court of Appeals made a small step towards helping special needs children when it clarified that special needs children aren’t penalized just because they are not in a traditional high school. John Hendricks had Down Syndrome and attended a special program in a high school that taught “vocabulary and activities of daily living such as how to count money.” When he reached the age of 18, his mom asked the court to end her child support obligation because he wasn’t making satisfactory academic progress towards graduation. He wouldn’t receive a traditional high school diploma. But John’s teacher and school counselor testified that “John’s attendance at school is in his best interests, [and] that he would continue to benefit in the future from the curriculum.” The Court of Appeals held that John was making satisfactory academic progress toward a non-traditional graduation, and it was equivalent to a traditional graduation. Child support would remain in place up to age 20 so long as John made progress in his program. The Court wrote: If John were not mentally disabled but instead was enrolled in a traditional high school curriculum, it is clear support would...
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Is it Time to Change Your Child Support? By Amy A. Edwards Unless you have a child support agreement or order for older teenagers, you will probably ask the question of whether and when child support (CS) can be changed. Any time parents can reach an agreement instead of have a trial, CS can be changed so long as the legal documents are properly prepared. But more importantly, if there is no agreement to change CS, what are the grounds a parent can use to ask that the amount be changed? This article looks at that question in the broadest terms and doesn’t get into the many exceptions to the rules or other unique situations. CS is only permanent until a parent files court documents to change or modify it. Until a child is eighteen or graduates from high school, the court has the authority to change the amount, increasing it or decreasing it, as may be necessary over the years. Court Orders: 3 Years or Changed Circumstances? The courts almost always calculate CS by using a formula set out by the NC Child Support Guidelines, which generally use only the gross income of each parents, work-related child-care cost, the number of children each parent has, and the out-of-pocket cost for each child’s health insurance. If you have a court order or a separation agreement that was converted into a court order, either parent may file a motion to modify CS if three years have passed since the last CS order was entered. The law assumes that after three years, it is time to review CS, which will be changed if there is at least 15% difference between the old amount of CS and the new amount of CS based on the current Guidelines. If three years haven’t passed since the CS order was entered, then a parent must show there has been a significant change in circumstances since the date that the last CS order was entered. What Counts as Changed Circumstances? The general rule is that a change in circumstances related to the child (or children) is enough to change child support. If a parent changes jobs and the child’s health insurance cost increases by $300 per month, for example, the change in circumstances merits a change in child support. Another fairly straight-forward change in circumstances is when a parent has a significant and involuntary drop in...
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When Does Child Support Stop in North Carolina? By Amy A. Edwards Each state specifies the age at which child support ends. In North Carolina, NC Gen. Stat. §50-13.4 requires child support to be paid until a child is age 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is longer. Support may end sooner than that if a child becomes emancipated. There is a legal proceeding that allows a minor who is at least 16 years old to file seek a decree of emancipation from a judge. But most commonly, a minor is automatically emancipated when he or she marries or joins the military. Unless parents have agreed otherwise in a separation agreement or consent order, if parents have multiple children, support does not automatically drop by 50% when another child graduates or reaches 18, etc. Instead, child support is recalculated based on the child support guidelines and the remaining child or children if a parent files a motion to modify support. Ages 18 to 20 Support may last longer than age 18 or graduation if the 18-year-old is still in school after reaching age 18 but hasn’t graduated. In that event, child support continues until he or she quits high school, fails to attend school on a regular basis or make satisfactory academic progress towards graduation, or reaches age 20, whichever is first. “If the child is enrolled in a cooperative innovative high school program . . . then payments shall terminate when the child completes his or her fourth year of enrollment or when the child reaches the age of 18, whichever occurs later.” NC Gen. Stat. §50-13.4(c)(3). Past Due Support There is one big exception to the general rule. If a parent owes outstanding child support when the payments would usually terminate, the payments will continue in the same amount, to be applied to the outstanding support until the balance is satisfied. Support from Grandparents When a minor has a baby, the grandparents have primary liability for the support of the grandchild. However, even though the parent of the baby is a minor child, he or she is secondarily liable for the baby’s support. The court determines the proper share of financial responsibility for the baby. A grandparent’s responsibility for child support ends for both the parent and the grandchild when the minor parent reaches the age of 18 or becomes emancipated. If only one of the baby’s parents was a minor...
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What Do All Those Custody Labels Really Mean? Physical Custody By Amy A. Edwards See also – Legal Custody Physical Custody In this article, we focus on physical custody and visitation.Our state deems physical custody to mean “the physical care and supervision of a child.” NC Gen. Stat. §50A-102(14). The NC Child Support Guidelines identify primary physical custody as the custody a parent has when he or she spends 243 overnight visits per year with that child. The other parent has secondary physical custody because he or she has 122 or fewer overnights. In that case, child support is the same amount no matter what the custody schedule is. But if a parent has 123 or more overnight visits per year, a different calculation is used. Depending on the exact number of overnights per year, the child support obligation changes on a per-day basis. Physical or Legal Custody? The Guidelines are careful to note that primary physical custody is determined without regard to whether a parent has primary, shared, or joint legal custody (decision-making custody), which is the right to make significant long-term decisions, such as a child’s religious training or the school a child will attend. Contrast that with physical custody, which involves the day-to-day decision-making such as what bed-time is best or how much time a child may spend using social media on a school night. Visitation With a Child Our state fails to clearly define visitation, stating that: Unless a contrary intent is clear, the word custody shall be deemed to include custody or visitation or both. The Court of Appeals wrote that “Visitation privileges are but a lesser degree of custody. Thus . . . the word custody . . . was intended to encompass visitation rights as well as general custody.” NC Gen. Stat. § 50-13.2(b1) But the statute specifies who cannot have visitation. If a person conceived a child by acts of various sexual assault laws, he is not entitled to visitation rights. On the other hand, grandparents may file a case visitation, not custody of any sort. However, they may seek visitation only if there is an on-going custody battle already pending in court. This avoids the significant stress and cost of litigation which could otherwise be inflicted upon the parents by a third party. What About Technology? Judges in North Carolina may award “electronic communication” with a parent. To allow a fluid and meaning as technology changes, the law envisions “contact, other than...
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Is a 529 College Savings Plan a Gift to a Child or Marital Property? By Amy A. Edwards Yesterday, the NC Court of Appeals addressed this question in Berens v. Berens. This was a case of first impression, meaning our courts have not yet made any decision on this subject. The Court defines 529 plan as “investment programs permit parents to set aside money for their children’s college expenses under tax-favorable conditions.” In the Berens case, the parents funded several 529 plans for their children while they were married and before they separated. The First Trial: Marital Property The lower court said the funds in the plans were marital property, and then awarded them to Mom as marital assets. She disagreed with that, and appealed the case, arguing that the money invested in the plans were gifts to each child, not marital property. And therefore, the court had no jurisdiction over the plans because they were not marital property. The Court of Appeals disagreed with her. The Appeal: Marital Property In this particular case, the Court of Appeals said the funds were not gifts to the children because they were all in Mom’s name alone. Besides the intent to give the gift to someone, a gift is only a gift if it is actually given to someone. Here, Mom failed to give a gift because no child was a named owner. Had the plans been gifts, each child would’ve had “all right, title, and control over the property.” Just because a 529 plan gives an owner a special tax benefit doesn’t mean it changes ownership. Although each child was a beneficiary, the plans were still owned by Mom. Therefore, she had the ability to spend the funds in any way see saw fit. Amy A. Edwards is a family law attorney in Greenville, NC, certified by the NC State Bar Board of Legal Specialization as a Family Law Specialist, and is licensed only in NC. Laws change. This article is current as of...
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How Does Child Support Enforcement Work in NC? The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) Program is managed by the NC Division of Social Services. CSE oversees almost all child support cases but they do more than enforce child support orders. If there is no child support order, they will initiate a lawsuit for it. A case worker is assigned to each case to act as the point of contact between the parents. When parents reach an agreement in their child support case, CSE will facilitate the entry of a court order. When parents dispute the amount of child support, a judge will decide what must be paid. Parties are always free to hire private attorneys to represent them in child support cases if they choose to do so. But for a fee of $25.00 per year, a CSE attorney represents the party who is entitled to child support, kind of like a district attorney represents the state/victim in criminal case. Who Can Use CSE Services? Any parent is eligible for services, regardless of whether he or she has government assistance. Either parent can request services, not just the party who receives child support. Married parents who have separated but have not yet divorced may use CSE services. A child’s guardian or caretaker qualifies for services, as does a person who has custody of a child pursuant to a court order. For example, if a grandparent has legal custody of a grandchild, CSE will provide services. For the sake of clarity, I will refer to anyone who qualifies for CSE services as parents. What About Paternity Testing? When parents are married at the time of the child’s birth, the law automatically assumes the husband is the father. However, when a child is born to unmarried parents and the father disputes paternity, CSE files a motion for the court to determine paternity by genetic testing. Paternity must be established before child support is properly ordered. An unmarried father may initiate services, including a request for paternity testing. Based on the test results, or if the defendant in the child support case fails to appear in court as required, CSE will then establish paternity and child support by court order. How Do they Enforce Child Support Orders? CSE keeps records of what is paid by a parent and what is provided to the other parent, usually by income withholding so the support will be...
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