Legal Question in Family Law in Indiana

The answer hinges upon whether your son is making enough money to be independent from support. He may be working fulltime,but how much is he making? What are the typical expenses for a 20 year old in the area where he lives for an apartment, gas, insurance, food, clothing, etc.? If he is making enough to take care of those necessities, then you should be able to petition the court for emancipation. Good luck.

On a side note, the situation concerning your health is an example of why our legislature should allow for the retroactive modification of child support when health clearly makes it impossible for a person to work, to pay child support or to even see an attorney. As it stands right now, the earliest that a court may make an order effective for modifying child support is the date that the Petition is filed. Clearly, if you are in the hospital due to an immediate life threatening condition, you are not going to be seeing an attorney to file for a modification of child support for some time. It can be weeks or even months before you are able to consult with an attorney and even longer to obtain funds to pay a retainer. In the meantime, child support arrears add up.

The Indiana Code does not treat the non-custodial parent fairly in this situation and our judges are required to follow the Code that our legislature passes. I encourage you and everyone reading this question and answer to contact their state represenative and ask for a change to cover a situation like yours.