Will my step daughter still be receiving child support once she moves out for college?
Full Question:
I have a stepdaughter who is turning 18 in July and she will be attending college in the Fall however she is planning on moving out on her own. How does this work with child support seeing her mother will no longer be supporting her?
05/07/2007 |
Category: Divorce ยป Child Support |
State: Massachusetts |
#4077
Answer:
The applicable Massachusetts statutes are as follows:
G.L.c. 208, § 28. Children; care, custody and maintenance; child
support obligations; provisions for education and health insurance;
parents convicted of first degree murder.
Section 28. Upon a judgment for divorce, the court may make
such judgment as it considers expedient relative to the care,
custody and maintenance of the minor children of the parties and
may determine with which of the parents the children or any of
them shall remain or may award their custody to some third person
if it seems expedient or for the benefit of the children. In
determining the amount of the child support obligation or in
approving the agreement of the parties, the court shall apply the
child support guidelines promulgated by the chief justice for
administration and management, and there shall be a rebuttable
presumption that the amount of the order which would result from
the application of the guidelines is the appropriate amount of
child support to be ordered. If, after taking into consideration
the best interests of the child, the court determines that a
party has overcome such presumption, the court shall make
specific written findings indicating the amount of the order that
would result from application of the guidelines; that the
guidelines amount would be unjust or inappropriate under the
circumstances; the specific facts of the case which justify
departure from the guidelines; and that such departure is
consistent with the best interests of the child. Upon a complaint
after a divorce, filed by either parent or by a next friend on
behalf of the children after notice to both parents, the court
may make a judgment modifying its earlier judgment as to the care
and custody of the minor children of the parties provided that
the court finds that a material and substantial change in the
circumstances of the parties has occurred and the judgment of
modification is necessary in the best interests of the children.
In furtherance of the public policy that dependent children shall
be maintained as completely as possible from the resources of
their parents and upon a complaint filed after a judgment of
divorce, orders of maintenance and for support of minor children
shall be modified if there is an inconsistency between the amount
of the existing order and the amount that would result from
application of the child support guidelines promulgated by the
chief justice for administration and management or if there is a
need to provide for the health care coverage of the child. A
modification to provide for the health care coverage of the child
shall be entered whether or not a modification in the amount of
child support is necessary. There shall be a rebuttable
presumption that the amount of the order which would result from
the application of the guidelines is the appropriate amount of
child support to be ordered. If, after taking into consideration
the best interests of the child, the court determines that a
party has overcome such presumption, the court shall make
specific written findings indicating the amount of the order that
would result from application of the guidelines; that the
guidelines amount would be unjust or inappropriate under the
circumstances; the specific facts of the case which justify
departure from the guidelines; and that such departure is
consistent with the best interests of the child. The order shall
be modified accordingly unless the inconsistency between the
amount of the existing order and the amount of the order that
would result from application of the guidelines is due to the
fact that the amount of the existing order resulted from a
rebuttal of the guidelines and that there has been no change in
the circumstances which resulted in such rebuttal; provided,
however, that even if the specific facts that justified departure
from the guidelines upon entry of the existing order remain in
effect, the order shall be modified in accordance with the
guidelines unless the court finds that the guidelines amount
would be unjust or inappropriate under the circumstances and that
the existing order is consistent with the best interests of the
child. A modification of child support may enter notwithstanding
an agreement of the parents that has independent legal
significance. If the IV-D agency as set forth in chapter 119A is
responsible for enforcing a case, an order may also be modified
in accordance with the procedures set out in section 3B of said
chapter 119A. The court may make appropriate orders of
maintenance, support and education of any child who has attained
age eighteen but who has not attained age twenty-one and who is
domiciled in the home of a parent, and is principally dependent
upon said parent for maintenance. The court may make appropriate
orders of maintenance, support and education for any child who
has attained age twenty-one but who has not attained age
twenty-three, if such child is domiciled in the home of a parent,
and is principally dependent upon said parent for maintenance due
to the enrollment of such child in an educational program,
excluding educational costs beyond an undergraduate degree. when
the court makes an order for maintenance or support of a child,
said court shall determine whether the obligor under such order
has health insurance or other health coverage on a group plan
available to him through an employer or organization or has
health insurance or other health coverage available to him at a
reasonable cost that may be extended to cover the child for whom
support is ordered. When said court has determined that the
obligor has such insurance or coverage available to him, said
court shall include in the support order a requirement that the
obligor exercise the option of additional coverage in favor of
the child or obtain coverage for the child.
When a court makes an order for maintenance or support, the court
shall determine whether the obligor under such order is responsible for
the maintenance or support of any other children of the obligor, even if a
court order for such maintenance or support does not exist, or whether
the obligor under such order is under a preexisting order for the
maintenance or support of any other children from a previous marriage,
or whether the obligor under such order is under a preexisting order for
the maintenance or support of any other children born out of wedlock.
If the court determines that such responsibility does, in fact, exist and
that such obligor is fulfilling such responsibility such court shall take
into consideration such responsibility in setting the amount to paid under
the current order for maintenance or support.
No court shall make an order providing visitation rights to a parent
who has been convicted of murder in the first degree of the other parent
of the child who is the subject of the order, unless such child is of
suitable age to signify his assent and assents to such order; provided,
further, that until such order is issued, no person shall visit, with the
child present, a parent who has been convicted of murder in the first
degree of the other parent of the child without the consent of the
child's custodian or legal guardian.
