6 Things You Should Know about the New Child Support Law

By Justine L. Abrams, Esq. 

on February 8th, 2016

Posted in Child Support,

Governor Christie rung in the New Year by signing a statute that dramatically changes New Jersey’s laws governing child support.  Here’s what you should know:

1.  As a general rule, child support terminates automatically upon a child reaching 19 years old. Under the old law, the person paying child support had to file a motion to terminate it. Now the burden has shifted – it terminates upon the child turning 19 unless the court is asked to do otherwise.

2.  There are 3 exceptions to the general rule. Child support will not automatically terminate upon a child reaching 19 years old if (1) a court order specifies another age, but not beyond age 23; (2) the parties consent to another age that the court approves; or (3) a parent or child files a motion to extend child support past age 19.

3.  You can file a motion to extend child support past age 19 before the child turns 19. Under the third exception to the general rule, a parent or child may file a motion to extend child support past age 19 if (1) the child is still in high school; (2) the child is attending college full-time; (3) the child suffers from a disability that existed prior to turning 19; or (4) there are other “exceptional circumstances.”

4.  If you have multiple children and one child turns 19, you may need to return to court to address child support for the younger children. This part of the law applies to families with multiple children. When one child turns 19 and child support for him/her terminates, what happens to the child support for the younger children? If it is spelled out in a prior court order or agreement specifically how much child support is allocated for each child, then upon one child reaching 19, the total award will get automatically adjusted downward to reflect the amount allotted for the remaining child or children. However, if the child support order or agreement does not make these specific allocations, then the amount of child support in effect immediately prior to the 19-year-old turning 19 will remain in effect until either party files a motion to recalculate support for the younger children.

5.  Even if child support automatically terminates at age 19, arrears are still enforceable. The child support payor is still on the hook for arrears (unpaid child support) that accrued before the child turned 19. Those arrears are to be repaid at the same rate as the child support obligation that was in effect immediately prior to the 19-year-old turning 19.

6.  This statute takes effect on February 1, 2017 and will apply “to all child support orders issued prior to, on, or after the effective date” in New Jersey. Here’s what is clear: the automatic-termination-upon-age-19 rule does not apply to child support orders entered in another state. What is unclear is if courts are going to invalidate prior existing marital settlement agreements, for example, one that extends child support to age 25 for a child not attending college if the court hasn’t yet “approved” it (under the second exception to the general rule)?

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