Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts

Absent an order from the court you pay child support until your son is 18. Moreover, most courts will require to pay support while your son is a full time student until he reaches the age of 23 or completes college.

If you have a separation agreement, that will govern your obligation. However, the court can still order you to pay child support until your son finishes college and could require you to pay for part of the cost of collegeg as well.

The circumstances on when you can stop paying child support without risking being in contempt of court should be stated in the last child support order that you received.

Generally speaking, in Massachusetts a child is not considered "emancipated" if they are still enrolled in full-time post-secondary education and are below the age of 23 and therefore should still be receiving child support.

With regards to part-time post-secondary education again, generally speaking, a child is considered emancipated and child support would no longer apply. However, there are instances where the child support would continue even if the child was only enrolled in part-time post-secondary studies, those would handled on a case by case basis.

If you have further questions and would like a free consultation, please contact me at 617- 523-3200.

Thank you,

if the child falls under less than full time, file for a modification ASAP.