Legal Question in Family Law in New York
child support
My daughter is turning 18 in August but would be a full time student in the Fall. Our current divorce agreement states that her dad would only have to pay support through age 18, with no provision for college status. Do I have to amend this or would the law require him to continue paying?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: child support
The law will not require him to continuing paying after the age of 18 years in violation of the written agreement.
Unless it may be demonstrated that your agreement is based on fraud, undue influence, misrepresentation, no meeting of the minds, etc., the Court will uphold and not amend the agreement.
However, you may amend the agreement with permission from her dad.
Mike.
Re: child support
No lawyer whom I know would ever put that into a divorce agreement. The law says support for a child ends with emancipation or at age 21. If the child is a full time student, even if he/she worked summers, he/she would be entitled to support.
With that in mind, support cannot be waived by a parent. It is peculiar to the child.
It probably is worth a try to go back into court and have the court decide the issue.
At this point you have nothing to lose.
If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me.