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Main Line Family Law Attorney Discusses: How Long does a Child Support Obligation Last?


| Lindsay Hanifan Childs
Main Line Family Law Attorney

 In Pennsylvania, parents have a duty to financially support their children until they become emancipated.  Emancipation occurs when the child turns 18 years old and graduates from high school, whichever occurs last.  This means that when parents are going through a divorce and one parent has a child support obligation to the other, that obligation can continue long past the finalization of the divorce.

But once a child is close to the age of emancipation, the court will send the custodial parent an “emancipation inquiry,” asking for confirmation of when the child will be graduating from high school and turning 18 years old.  Depending on which county your case is taking place in, after they receive confirmation of the emancipation the court might automatically terminate the child support order if there was only one child on the order. If there are other children that remain on the order, the court might simply reallocate the existing child support amount between the remaining unemancipated children, thereby not reducing the overall child support obligation at all. 

However, a child support obligation should really be recalculated when an older child becomes emancipated, because the guideline child support obligation for one child is not exactly half of what the obligation would be for two children. A family law attorney can help you determine the correct amount.

Obligations to provide health insurance for a child and share in the child’s unreimbursed medical expenses are also part of the standard child support order.  As a result, when a child becomes emancipated and the child support order is terminated, the parent no longer has a legal obligation to provide health insurance or contribute to medical expenses for the child.  The law regarding emancipation also means that there is no obligation to provide any support to children through their college years, including no obligation to contribute to their college tuition.

Vetrano Vetrano & Feinman Attorneys Tony Vetrano, Lindsay Childs, Sarinia Feinman, Kate Vetrano and Donna Marcus

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Our experienced family lawyers take the time to fully understand the financial and emotional complexities that can be involved in separating two lives. We offer the patience and resources to effectively guide clients through a divorce, addressing all the challenges they may face in moving forward with their lives. To learn more about how we can help protect your rights and interests in a complex divorce, contact the Pennsylvania divorce attorneys at Vetrano | Vetrano & Feinman LLC.