Since my son is 18 is there anyway child support can be mandated by Missouri law?
Full Question:
Answer:
The obligation to pay child support terminates upon the death of the child, the marriage of the child, the child entering active duty in the military, the child becoming self-sufficient, the child reaching eighteen (18) years of age, or, if the child is enrolled in a secondary school program of education, when the child reaches the age of twenty-two (22) years of age. Also, if the child is enrolled in an institution of vocational or higher education not later than October first following graduation from a secondary school or completion of a graduation equivalence degree program and so long as the child enrolls for and completes at least twelve hours of credit each semester, not including the summer semester, at an institution of vocational or higher education
and achieves grades sufficient to reenroll at such institution, the parental support obligation shall continue until the child completes his or her education, or until the child reaches the age of twenty-two, whichever first occurs.
The applicable Missouri statutes are as follows:
452.340. Child support, how allocated — factors to be considered —
abatement or termination of support, when — support after age eighteen,
when — public policy of state — payments may be made directly to child,
when — child support guidelines, rebuttable presumption, use of guidelines,
when — retroactivity — obligation terminated, how. —
1. In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage, legal separation or child
support, the court may order either or both parents owing a duty of support
to a child of the marriage to pay an amount reasonable or necessary for the
support of the child, including an award retroactive to the date of filing
the petition, without regard to marital misconduct, after considering all
relevant factors including:
(1) The financial needs and resources of the child;
(2) The financial resources and needs of the parents;
(3) The standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriage
not been dissolved;
(4) The physical and emotional condition of the child, and the child's
educational needs;
(5) The child's physical and legal custody arrangements, including the
amount of time the child spends with each parent and the reasonable
expenses associated with the custody or visitation arrangements; and
(6) The reasonable work-related child care expenses of each parent.
2. The obligation of the parent ordered to make support payments shall
abate, in whole or in part, for such periods of time in excess of thirty
consecutive days that the other parent has voluntarily relinquished
physical custody of a child to the parent ordered to pay child support,
notwithstanding any periods of visitation or temporary physical and legal
or physical or legal custody pursuant to a judgment of dissolution or legal
separation or any modification thereof. In a IV-D case, the division of
child support enforcement may determine the amount of the abatement
pursuant to this subsection for any child support order and shall record
the amount of abatement in the automated child support system record
established pursuant to chapter 454, RSMo. If the case is not a IV-D case
and upon court order, the circuit clerk shall record the amount of
abatement in the automated child support system record established in
chapter 454, RSMo.
3. Unless the circumstances of the child manifestly dictate otherwise and
the court specifically so provides, the obligation of a parent to make
child support payments shall terminate when the child:
(1) Dies;
(2) Marries;
(3) Enters active duty in the military;
(4) Becomes self-supporting, provided that the custodial parent has
relinquished the child from parental control by express or implied consent;
(5) Reaches age eighteen, unless the provisions of subsection 4 or 5 of
this section apply; or
(6) Reaches age twenty-two, unless the provisions of the child support
order specifically extend the parental support order past the child's
twenty-second birthday for reasons provided by subsection 4 of this
section.
4. If the child is physically or mentally incapacitated from supporting
himself and insolvent and unmarried, the court may extend the parental
support obligation past the child's eighteenth birthday.
5. If when a child reaches age eighteen, the child is enrolled in and
attending a secondary school program of instruction, the parental support
obligation shall continue, if the child continues to attend and progresses
toward completion of said program, until the child completes such program
or reaches age twenty-one, whichever first occurs. If the child is enrolled
in an institution of vocational or higher education not later than October
first following graduation from a secondary school or completion of a
graduation equivalence degree program and so long as the child enrolls for
and completes at least twelve hours of credit each semester, not including
the summer semester, at an institution of vocational or higher education
and achieves grades sufficient to reenroll at such institution, the
parental support obligation shall continue until the child completes his or
her education, or until the child reaches the age of twenty-two, whichever
first occurs. To remain eligible for such continued parental support, at
the beginning of each semester the child shall submit to each parent a
transcript or similar official document provided by the institution of
vocational or higher education which includes the courses the child is
enrolled in and has completed for each term, the grades and credits
received for each such course, and an official document from the
institution listing the courses which the child is enrolled in for the
upcoming term and the number of credits for each such course. If the
circumstances of the child manifestly dictate, the court may waive the
October first deadline for enrollment required by this subsection. If the
child has pursued a path of continuous attendance and has demonstrated
evidence of a plan to continue to do so, the court may enter a judgment
abating support for a period of up to five months for any semester in which
the child completes at least six but less than twelve credit hours;
however, such five-month period of abatement shall only be granted one time
for each child. If the child is enrolled in such an institution, the child
or parent obligated to pay support may petition the court to amend the
order to direct the obligated parent to make the payments directly to the
child. As used in this section, an "institution of vocational education"
means any postsecondary training or schooling for which the student is
assessed a fee and attends classes regularly. "Higher education" means any
junior college, community college, college, or university at which the
child attends classes regularly. A child who has been diagnosed with a
learning disability, or whose physical disability or diagnosed health
problem limits the child's ability to carry the number of credit hours
prescribed in this subsection, shall remain eligible for child support so
long as such child is enrolled in and attending an institution of
vocational or higher education, and the child continues to meet the other
requirements of this subsection. A child who is employed at least fifteen
hours per week during the semester may take as few as nine credit hours per
semester and remain eligible for child support so long as all other
requirements of this subsection are complied with.
6. The court shall consider ordering a parent to waive the right to claim
the tax dependency exemption for a child enrolled in an institution of
vocational or higher education in favor of the other parent if the
application of state and federal tax laws and eligibility for financial aid
will make an award of the exemption to the other parent appropriate.
7. The general assembly finds and declares that it is the public policy
of this state that frequent, continuing and meaningful contact with both
parents after the parents have separated or dissolved their marriage is in
the best interest of the child except for cases where the court
specifically finds that such contact is not in the best interest of the
child. In order to effectuate this public policy, a court with
jurisdiction shall enforce visitation, custody and child support orders
in the same manner. A court with jurisdiction may abate, in whole or in
part, any past or future obligation of support and may transfer the
physical and legal or physical or legal custody of one or more children if
it finds that a parent has, without good cause, failed to provide
visitation or physical and legal or physical or legal custody to the
other parent pursuant to the terms of a judgment of dissolution, legal
separation or modifications thereof. The court shall also award, if
requested and for good cause shown, reasonable expenses, attorney's fees
and court costs incurred by the prevailing party.
8. The Missouri supreme court shall have in effect a rule establishing
guidelines by which any award of child support shall be made in any
judicial or administrative proceeding. Said guidelines shall contain
specific, descriptive and numeric criteria which will result in a
computation of the support obligation. The guidelines shall address how the
amount of child support shall be calculated when an award of joint physical
custody results in the child or children spending substantially equal time
with both parents. Not later than October 1, 1998, the Missouri supreme
court shall publish child support guidelines and specifically list and
explain the relevant factors and assumptions that were used to calculate
the child support guidelines. Any rule made pursuant to this subsection
shall be reviewed by the promulgating body not less than once every four
years to ensure that its application results in the determination of
appropriate child support award amounts.
9. There shall be a rebuttable presumption, in any judicial or
administrative proceeding for the award of child support, that the amount
of the award which would result from the application of the guidelines
established pursuant to subsection 8 of this section is the correct amount
of child support to be awarded. A written finding or specific finding on
the record in a judicial or administrative proceeding that the application
of the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate in a particular case,
after considering all relevant factors, including the factors set out in
subsection 1 of this section, is required if requested by a party and shall
be sufficient to rebut the presumption in the case. The written finding or
specific finding on the record shall detail the specific relevant factors
that required a deviation from the application of the guidelines.
10. Pursuant to this or any other chapter, when a court determines the
amount owed by a parent for support provided to a child by another person,
other than a parent, prior to the date of filing of a petition requesting
support, or when the director of the division of child support enforcement
establishes the amount of state debt due pursuant to subdivision (2) of
subsection 1 of section 454.465, RSMo, the court or director shall use the
guidelines established pursuant to subsection 8 of this section. The amount
of child support resulting from the application of the guidelines shall be
applied retroactively for a period prior to the establishment of a support
order and the length of the period of retroactivity shall be left to the
discretion of the court or director. There shall be a rebuttable
presumption that the amount resulting from application of the guidelines
under subsection 8 of this section constitutes the amount owed by the
parent for the period prior to the date of the filing of the petition for
support or the period for which state debt is being established. In
applying the guidelines to determine a retroactive support amount, when
information as to average monthly income is available, the court or
director may use the average monthly income of the noncustodial parent, as
averaged over the period of retroactivity, in determining the amount of
presumed child support owed for the period of retroactivity. The court or
director may enter a different amount in a particular case upon finding,
after consideration of all relevant factors, including the factors set out
in subsection 1 of this section, that there is sufficient cause to rebut
the presumed amount.
11. The obligation of a parent to make child support payments may be
terminated as follows:
(1) Provided that the child support order contains the child's date of
birth, the obligation shall be deemed terminated without further judicial
or administrative process when the child reaches age twenty-two if the
child support order does not specifically require payment of child support
beyond age twenty-two for reasons provided by subsection 4 of this section;
(2) The obligation shall be deemed terminated without further judicial or
administrative process when the parent receiving child support furnishes a
sworn statement or affidavit notifying the obligor parent of the child's
emancipation in accordance with the requirements of subsection 4 of section
452.370, and a copy of such sworn statement or affidavit is filed with the
court which entered the order establishing the child support obligation, or
the division of child support enforcement;
(3) The obligation shall be deemed terminated without further judicial or
administrative process when the parent paying child support files a sworn
statement or affidavit with the court which entered the order establishing
the child support obligation, or the division of child support enforcement,
stating that the child is emancipated and reciting the factual basis for
such statement; which statement or affidavit is served by the court or
division on the child support obligee; and which is either acknowledged and
affirmed by the child support obligee in writing, or which is not responded
to in writing within thirty days of receipt by the child support obligee;
(4) The obligation shall be terminated as provided by this subdivision by
the court which entered the order establishing the child support
obligation, or the division of child support enforcement, when the parent
paying child support files a sworn statement or affidavit with the court
which entered the order establishing the child support obligation, or the
division of child support enforcement, stating that the child is
emancipated and reciting the factual basis for such statement; and which
statement or affidavit is served by the court or division on the child
support obligee. If the obligee denies the statement or affidavit, the
court or division shall thereupon treat the sworn statement or affidavit as
a motion to modify the support obligation pursuant to section 452.370 or
section 454.496, RSMo, and shall proceed to hear and adjudicate such motion
as provided by law; provided that the court may require the payment of a
deposit as security for court costs and any accrued court costs, as
provided by law, in relation to such motion to modify.
12. The court may enter a judgment terminating child support pursuant to
subdivisions (1) to (3) of subsection 11 of this section without necessity
of a court appearance by either party. The clerk of the court shall mail a
copy of a judgment terminating child support entered pursuant to subsection
11 of this section on both the obligor and obligee parents. The supreme
court may promulgate uniform forms for sworn statements and affidavits to
terminate orders of child support obligations for use pursuant to
subsection 11 of this section and subsection 4 of section 452.370.