whendoeschildsuPPortreallYend ?
Marital & Family law Section Chair : AndrewD . Reder , B . C . S . — SessumsBlack , P . A .
Your client is going through a divorce and asks how long he has to pay child support for his son , Christopher . Seems easy , right ? You would expect to tell him that support ends at 18 . Well , to quote Marlon Brando , who played Superman ’ s dad in the original movie , “ By now you will have reached your 18th year as it is measured on Earth .” The 18th year in child support is subject to some wiggle room as well .
Section 61.13 ( 1 )( a ) 1 . a ., Florida
Statutes , provides : All child support orders ... must provide ... for child support to terminate on a child ’ s 18th birthday unless the court finds or previously found that the minor child … is still in high school and is performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduation before he or she reaches the age of 19 … [ emphasis added ]. Further , Section 743.07 ( 2 ),
Florida Statues , provides : This section shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years … if the person is dependent in fact , is between the ages of 18 and 19 , and is still in high school , performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduation before the age of 19 [ emphasis added ].
itisdifficulttounderstandwhyteenagerswhohavea nineteenthbirthdayearlyintheyear , donotmeritsupport duringtheeighteenthyearoflife .
Therefore , you must know how old Christopher will be upon high school graduation . There are three possible scenarios which would affect when support terminates : ( 1 ) Christopher turns 18 after graduation ; ( 2 ) he graduates between 18 and 19 ; or ( 3 ) he graduates after 19 .
Assuming Christopher does not have a mental or physical incapacity , if he turns 18 after graduation , then per the Statue , support terminates at 18 . 1 If he turns 18 while still in high school , then to extend support past 18 , the Court must examine whether the § 61.13 requirement of a “ reasonable expectation of graduation before age 19 ” is met . 2 If there is that reasonable expectation , then support can continue until high school graduation . 3
But what if Christopher was held back a year , and turns 19 before he graduates ? Does support end upon graduation , at age 19 , or at age 18 ? Surprisingly , it ends at age 18 . 4 Christopher would go through his senior year without support . This result seemed unfair to the Fifth DCA in Walworth v . Klauder , when the Court certified the question , stating , “ It is difficult to understand why teenagers who are behind their age group , due to circumstances beyond their control , or ones who have a nineteenth birthday early in the year , do not merit support during the eighteenth year of life ….” 5 The Florida Supreme Court did not review this question , but did hold in another case , where the child graduated just 11 days after he turned 19 , that if a child is “ entitled ” to a diploma before his 19th birthday , this satisfies the statutory requirement of “ graduation ” before age 19 , and support would continue during his senior year . 6 n
1
See § 61.13 ( 1 )( a ) 1 . a .
2
See Hesse v . Hesse , 779 So . 2d 312 , 313 ( Fla . 2d DCA 1999 ).
3
See Dep ’ t of Revenue ex rel . Tisdale v . Jackson , 217 So . 3d 192 ( Fla . 5th DCA 2017 ).
4
See Walworth v . Klauder , 615 So . 2d 219 ( Fla . 5th DCA 1993 ).
5
Id . at 221 .
6
Wattenbarger v . Wattenbarger , 767 So . 2d 1172 , 1173 ( Fla . 2000 ).
Author : Lara G . Davis - The Women ’ s Law Group , PL
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