Child support

[conf]

I have court orders for child support. In the same item on the court order it stated that I would also provide for college. Since then the court order has been modified and now states that I would provide until the child was 19 or out of high school. It says nothing about college. Does this new modification now supersede the original order? Am I no longer responsible for college expenses? I would think not, but I want to make sure.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

It's difficult to answer without seeing the order. If there was a modification that all support provided would continue only through age 19, then it would seem to supercede the prior order. However, there may not be a contradiction between the current and prior order since the order can be partially modified and your support to age 19 may be limited to a type of support rather than all support provided.

 

[conf]

Well actually the Child Support and College are on the same line item. when the order was modified it mentioned nothing about the college situation. On the original order there was never any specifics as to how much and what portion was to be paid by me. ie: Tuition, books, etc. The Child in question is already 21 and this is just turned into an issue. I would think the specifics of what I should have to pay should have been determined by the courts prior to this.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I think that whether you would have to pay college tuition as part of child support would greatly depend upon the state in which you are in. It is quite possible that the child being over age 21 (which is within the age of majority in all states) may work to your favor.