Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

If I'm understanding your question correctly, YOU receive child support related to your 18 year old daughter and 14 year old son. Pursuant to the child support order, you will receive support for both children until your 14 year old son graduates from high school. The father has petitioned the Court for a reduction of child support.

You will continue to receive child support related to your daughter until your son graduates high school, if that's what the child support order actually says. Without seeing that order, it's impossible for me to specifically comment. The fact that your daughter is in college is not really the issue. The issue is whether there's been a material change that would warrant the father not having to pay as much child support. Has the father lost his job? Is he in jail? Has he had additional children? Are you making more money and therefore able to pay more? The father cannot intentionally make himself poor by failing to work. A Court will order him to pay what he COULD make if he were otherwise employed.

It is in your best interest and the best interest of your children to appear at all court hearings regarding this issue. You should also consider retaining a Maryland family law attorney to represent you regarding this matter. It is that important. Best of luck. ******The above does not establish an attorney-client relationship and is intended solely for informational purposes. ******

Under Maryland law, unless you have an agreement to the contrary, child support for your daughter ceases when she turns 18 or, if she was still in high school at the time of her 18th birthday, when she graduated from high school. Under the facts you describe, your ex-husband is entitled to a modification of child support.

When there are multiple children, the Maryland child support guidelines provide for undifferentiated child support for all children. The good news is that child support is not pro rata. In other words, if you are awarded $1,000 for two children, the child support is NOT reduced to $500 when the first child ages out. Under the guidelines, child support for one child is approximately 64% of the child support for two children. Meaning, if child support for two children is $1,000, and if there are NO OTHER CHANGES in circumstances, child support for one child would be approximately $640.

There are two other factors to consider. Depending on how old your support order is, the child support guidelines were amended a couple of years ago to change how the court handles health insurance premiums for the children. More significantly, the guidelines as a whole (meaning the basic child support amounts), have just been amended for the first time in 21 years. The new guidelines go into effect October 1, 2010, and will significantly increase amounts of basic child support.