When in a New Jersey child’s life should his or her right to child support payments come to an end? That is a question to which New Jersey’s lawmakers recently found an answer. The bill (S-1046/A-2721) was passed overwhelmingly in the New Jersey Senate last summer by a 31-2 vote and in the New Jersey Assembly on December 17, 2015, by a unanimous vote, 68-0, with one abstention.  The bill provides for automatic termination of child support upon a child’s reaching 19 years of age, with some exceptions.  It awaits only the signature of Governor Christie to become law.

No end in sight?

Until now, children (or their primary custodial parents) have had a right to child support until the children are deemed emancipated, which may occur as a result of college completion, marriage, entry to military service, death, or other triggering events. While court orders, judgments, and settlement agreements could declare the end of support payments before a child’s emancipation, until now, there has been no presumption of termination at a specific age. In fact, until this bill becomes law, a child support obligor is still required to file an application for each child’s emancipation when s/he believes termination of payments is appropriate, whether triggered by judgment, court order, contract, or life’s events.  Mere passage of time or occurrence of events has not been enough.  In a contested matter, it has long been up to the obligor parent to prove –and a judge to find — “substantial changed circumstances” justifying the obligation’s endpoint.

NJ AOC approves of “quick fix”

Proponents of the new legislation, including the court system itself, maintain that the new rule is necessary to reduce the massive amount of open cases that arise when children have been emancipated but their parents do not properly terminate child support. With the presumption of termination at a child’s age 19, this problem would be resolved by the time most children are out of high school. Notwithstanding the automatic termination provisions, parents or children could petition for extension if children are still in high school or college, or the children suffer from a physical or mental disability that existed before the child turned 19. The bill also would not apply to child support judgment, orders, or agreements originating out of state.

NJSBA represents the unhappy campers’ position

According to the New Jersey State Bar Association, an automatic end to payments fails to serve the rights of the state’s children, who are entitled to receive appropriate support from their parents. Since the terms of the new legislation require recipients to apply for an extension of payments, the Bar maintains that the legislation unfairly transfers the onus of proving the need for payments to the payee. The Bar fears that “this unreasonably prejudices the recipient, who is usually the custodial parent, by shifting the burden to the payee to prove a right to continue the child support instead of leaving the burden on the payor to demonstrate why his/her obligation should be terminated.”
The better arguments support changing the law.

I predict Governor Christie will put pen to paper and this bill will become the law of the State in short order.  In my opinion, the better argument is the one made by the court system and other proponents of rational, time-bound parental support obligations for children.  The presumption of child support termination is subject to rebuttal, on the basis of evidence.  If a child deserves an extension, it will be up to a Family Court judge to exercise proper discretion and give him/her the extension.  If no such application is made, or a parent on behalf of a child (or the child him/herself) fails to show good cause, then the child support obligation should come to an end.

Conclusion

If you or someone you know has a crisis or concern about any aspect of New Jersey family law, they or you should call or write to us today.  We emphasize family law cases in our practice.  We will sit down with your loved ones, friends, or with you to discuss the facts, research the law, and provide a reasoned opinion as to the best way for them or you to proceed.

We are “compassionate counsel and tough advocates”.  We are also experienced trial lawyers, and serve as negotiations coaches and advocates in negotiations, mediation, arbitration, and collaborative law practice.  Give us the opportunity to serve you.  You will be glad you did.