What happens to child support when the child turns 18 years old

Kim: My husband and I pay for my stepdaughter's child support. She is almost 18. She has been living with us full time and we're still paying child support. We're supposed to have 50/50 custody but her mother didn't want her since before the pandemic. How do we get it to end at 18? She has no desire to go on for further education and has no desire to go back and live with her mother again. What do we have to do?

Attorney Tom Olsen: Does she live in Florida? Does the child live in Florida?

Kim: Yes.

Tom: Kim, remember that the court order probably says that he is to pay child support until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever comes later. 18 is not necessarily a magic age, it may be graduating from high school. In either case, there is nothing automatic about it. It will require that your husband retain an attorney and go to court and get a court order saying child support is done.

I wish I could say she turns 18 and graduates, there's nothing else you need to do, but in fact, you need a court order acknowledging that child support is no longer due.

Kim: Yes, because she graduated, I got her through school, helped her out with that, and she doesn't have any desire to go any further in school. Like I said, her mother's collecting it and not seeing her.

Tom: Well, that's quite a prize there. When does she turn 18?

Kim: In 2023, right at the beginning of the year.

Tom: Kim, it's not too early for you to start finding the right attorney to pursue this so that on the day of her birthday, that court order is in place that no more child support is due.

Kim: Okay.

Tom: All right, Kim. Good luck to you. All right. Bye-Bye. Chris, Olsen Law Group, there's certain things that we do, but certain things that we don't do. We don't do family law, but we get quite a few people that ask us for referrals.

Attorney Chris Merrill: Exactly. In this situation, for this caller, it would be a family law attorney.

Tom: We don't do family law just because it's not our very expertise, but we know that family law clients, divorce clients, man, they're not happy people. They're not happy about having to get divorced. They're not happy about having to pay an attorney. I'm always a little bit leery about referring people to somebody because odds are, they may not like that lawyer either, simply because they don't like the situation they're in, to begin with. All we can do is refer them to the best lawyer that we know of, that might assist them.

Chris: Well, when I have a client that needs help from a family law attorney, I always refer them to two or three, and the first thing I share with them is, it is about personality. You may speak with any one of the ones that I give you, and hopefully, one will match and fit well with your personality, because again, it's a very difficult and challenging time when anybody is dealing with any family law circumstance.

Tom: I think that that is great advice. You got to make sure that you are fit with the lawyer that you're dealing with, especially, doubly, when it comes down to a family law attorney.

Chris: Correct.

Tom: If you're a woman, maybe you're going to feel more comfortable with a lady lawyer. Maybe you're going to feel more comfortable with a man lawyer. I don't know. Maybe you're looking for somebody that's a good negotiator. Maybe you're looking for a bulldog attorney. You got to find what's right for you, including whatever kind of fee structure that they're setting up.

Chris: Correct.

Tom: Christy, over the years of my law practice-- I have been a lawyer for over 41 years now. Occasionally, I'll have somebody come to me and say, "Tom, I'm looking for a bulldog attorney." I say, "Look, that's not me. You got to find somebody else. That's not my personality."

Chris: Normally, the bulldog part applies where there's anything to do with a possible litigation.

Tom: Yes. I'm about settling things done, getting things worked out in the most efficient manner possible for all parties concerned, and hey, that's worked for me, and it's worked for our clients over the years.

Chris: Absolutely.

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