Legal Question in Family Law in Missouri

Re: How do I know when child support should end?

I believe that the child support statute still requires the child to be enrolled in post-secondary education by October 1 following graduation from high school, requires the student to maintain a full time class load(12 hours per semester unless also employed) and generally make progress towards the completion of the program as it goes along, to give a few examples. The appellate courts have allowed the trial courts to make certain execptions to the strict letter of the law in many cases so this issue continues to be very ripe for litigation. Also, the law is written in such a way so as to present a problem for the child support payor in knowing whether the obligation is in effect for the summer months. The payor may decide to withold the child support during the summer months and risk falling behind or being taken back to court. Or, the payor may continue to pay and then seek a refund if the child does not enroll by October 1rst, or otherwise do what is required to extend the child support obligation past the age of eighteen. Overall, it is a very unsatisfactory piece of legislation, causing much more trouble than it saves in my humble opinion.