Legal Question in Family Law in Utah

I've been divorced for almost 5 years. My ex and I agreed to child support based on a 49% vs. 51% custodial share with her being the primary custodial parent. We only have one child and he was approximately 15 at the time of the agreement. Shortly after the agreement, my son took up primary residence at my house (approx 85% of the time he spent with me) I paid for all health insurance costs, his car, food, car insurance school enrollment costs, sports events etc. Based on this, my ex and I agreed that I would no longer pay the support as per our original agreement. This is how it remained until my son turned 18.

Recently, my ex has fallen on hard times financially. She has sold recreation property that was granted to her in the divorce with stipulation that she would never sell it and deed it to my son and step son for them to own upon her death.

So, my question.... Given our re-negotiated child support agreement was a "handshake" deal, can she still come back to me and force me to pay back child support. If yes, is there a statute of limitation?


Asked on 5/13/13, 11:20 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Cory Wall Cory R. Wall, Attorney at Law, P.C.

Generally, under the law, child support follows the child even without a formal agreement or order to change custody. As such, the fact that your son came to live with you 85% of the time, your ex would technically be required to pay you something so there's probably no concern about her coming back after you for child support. With respect to the statute of limitations, the statute provides that it goes back 4 years after the date the youngest child reaches the age of majority (18). Assuming your son is about 20 from what I can tell, the statute of limitations will expire when he turns 22. However, again I don't believe there's any concern considering the change in custody that was made. For future reference however, it's always a good idea to get any agreement in writing and signed by both parties.

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Answered on 5/14/13, 7:31 am


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