Posts Tagged child support

When Can Parents Stop Paying Child Support in New Jersey?

Typically, parents pay child support for the full childhood of a child. The age at which a child no longer relies on the support of their parent is debatable to some. Child support can take up a significant portion of your income, so you may be wondering when parents can stop paying child support in New Jersey.

What is the Age of Emancipation?

The age of emancipation refers to when a child is no longer legally dependent on their parents, and this may vary depending on the state. In New Jersey, the legal age of emancipation is 19 years old. This isn’t a hard stopping age for child support, though. The New Jersey courts recognize that each family is different.

The courts typically listen to a plea to stop paying child support on a case-by-case basis. One family may require child support beyond 19 years, while another may stop child support payments before 19 years.

Factors that Affect the Age of Emancipation

Some factors that may affect the age of emancipation include:

A child who is attending college
A child who is independent and moves away from home
A child who is earning a salary
A child who is married or with their own child

These are just a few of the factors that a family court may consider when determining a child’s need for child support. Some children may be capable of providing for themselves before the legal age of emancipation. New Jersey also allows children under 18 years who have moved out on their own or are supporting themselves to file for their own emancipation.

How to Emancipate Child Support in New Jersey

You can file a motion to emancipate a child to end child support payments. This is done through the New Jersey family court where you live. Working with a family lawyer can be beneficial to ensure you meet all the state’s filing requirements. It’s important to note that even if an emancipation request is approved, it doesn’t clear out any previously missed payments. Parents will still be responsible for all back pay child support payments they may have missed.

How is Child Support Calculated?

New Jersey uses a percentage model when calculating child support. The non-custodial parent is responsible for paying a set percentage of their income each month to the custodial parent. Even families with a shared parenting agreement may be required to pay child support, depending on the agreement.

If the inability to make child support payments is why you want to stop making them, other options may be available. If your income has changed, you can file a motion with the court to lower your monthly payments. Keep in mind, though, that the court could increase your monthly payments if your income has increased. New Jersey allows you to modify your child support payments once every three years. The court requires that you show proof that there has been a significant change in circumstances.

If you have questions about child support, including when you can stop paying or how to adjust your amount, reach out to a family law lawyer.

Contact a Camden Family Law Attorney for a Consultation About Child Custody in New Jersey Today

If you are thinking about filing for divorce, or if you have already started the divorce process and are dealing with another matter, such as child custody, child support, or division of assets, you need to speak with a qualified attorney. The New Jersey family law attorneys at The Law Offices of Daniel K. Newman represent clients throughout the state, including Camden, Cherry Hill, Gloucester Township, and Winslow. We understand how challenging this time can be for you, which is why we will fight hard to protect your interests, and the interests of your loved ones, throughout the legal process. Call us at (856) 309-9007 or fill out our confidential contact form to schedule a consultation. We have an office conveniently located at 1202 Laurel Oak Rd # 207, Voorhees Township, NJ 08043.

The articles on this blog are for informative purposes only and are no substitute for legal advice or an attorney-client relationship. If you are seeking legal advice, please contact our law firm directly.

What to Do When Your Ex Stops Paying Child Support During COVID-19

COVID has affected much of the world, financially and emotionally. When the country shut down for a few weeks, many people lost their jobs. Even people who were able to hold on to their jobs had to learn how to navigate a new world of increasing cases and the challenge of figuring out remote schooling.

If you rely on child support during this time, it can make the situation even worse when your ex stops paying. You may have legal options available to enforce your ex to make their payments. Failing to make court-ordered payments is illegal in New Jersey and is usually enforceable by the local court.

Modifications Can Help to Accommodate a Change in Finances

If your ex loses their job during this time, or their income significantly decreases, they can file for a modification. Filing for a modification requests that the court recalculates their child support payments based on their new income. Without this process, however, your ex can’t just skip payments or reduce them.

What to Do If Your Ex Stops Paying

One of the first things you’ll want to do if your ex has skipped a few payments is to report the missed payments. You can report missed payments to the Office of Child Support Services (OCSS). If your ex intentionally skipped payments and has income, the office may obtain payments using other methods, like garnishing their wages or a tax refund.

Other Potential Consequences of Non-Payment

If your ex skips their child support payments, they may be ordered to pay them through garnishments. If they don’t have a job that allows this, or still don’t pay the full amount of their monthly child support, the court may take other actions for further consequences. A few potential consequences include:

Suspend their driver’s license
Suspend a professional license
Put a lien on a personal property
Detain them

There are a few options available for seeking child support. If you find that these methods are still ineffective, it may be worth it to reach out to a child support lawyer. A lawyer can help you file the right paperwork with the right courts and ensure that they have all the information they need to track down payment.

What if My Spouse is Collecting Unemployment?

The year 2020 saw a record number of people collecting unemployment. Even if your ex is collecting unemployment, they are still responsible for making their child support payments. The same goes for other types of government compensation, including workers’ compensation payments or other disability payments.

A divorce or family lawyer can help you navigate child support during this difficult time. It can feel impossible to get answers to your questions, especially with many of the courts closed to the public. This can lead to a longer wait time for court hearings. In the meantime, you’re left trying to cover the costs of being a parent, without the additional payments from your ex that you deserve and rely on. Contact us today to navigate child support during COVID.

Contact a Cherry Hill Family Law Attorney for a Consultation About Child Custody in New Jersey Today

If you are thinking about filing for divorce, or if you have already started the divorce process and are dealing with another matter such as child custody, child support, or division of assets, you need to speak with a qualified attorney. The New Jersey family law attorneys at The Law Offices of Daniel K. Newman represent clients throughout the state, including Cherry Hill, Winslow, Collingswood, and Voorhees. We understand how challenging this time can be for you, which is why we will fight hard to protect your interests, and the interests of your loved ones, throughout the legal process. Call us at (856) 309-9007 or fill out our confidential contact form to schedule a consultation. We have an office conveniently located at 1202 Laurel Oak Rd #207 Voorhees Township, NJ 08043.

Understanding Post-Judgment Modifications for Child Support

What is a post-judgment modification?

A post-judgment modification is a process in which a person files a motion or application to modify a court order, such as child support, custody, or parenting time. This is typically due to a considerable change in circumstances, and the modification will only be granted if the person’s change in circumstances is substantial enough. A few examples that would be grounds for modification are significant changes in either party’s income, behavioral or criminal problems, substance addiction, change in daycare expenses, college expenses, or unanticipated medical expenses of consequence.

The successful motion or application is frequently accompanied by an affidavit or certification, including relevant exhibits, and sometimes a legal brief if the legal issue is unique or a matter of first impression before the court. The matter is then scheduled for oral argument before a Superior Court judge, at which time a decision is rendered.

New Jersey Child Emancipation

“I want to sign my rights away.” “He’s gonna be 18 in June. I can stop paying child support then.”

I have often heard these and other similar comments. For the most part, however, such thoughts are wishful thinking and not reflective of current New Jersey law. But what happens if these mistaken beliefs come before the court in the form of a proposed consent order which a judge is asked to sign, or in a marital settlement agreement presented at an uncontested final divorce hearing?

First, under such circumstances, an experienced attorney will advise his/her clients that their child emancipation expectations are likely against New Jersey public policy. So, questionable child emancipation language rarely appears in attorney-drawn orders or agreements. Second, a judge will likely refuse to sign a consent order containing premature child emancipation language despite consensus between the parents. And third, should dubious emancipation language “slip through the cracks,” a subsequent judge or an appellate court will probably not enforce the questionable provisions finding them to be at odds with New Jersey public policy. It should be noted that with marital settlement agreements judges rarely, if ever, read them at an uncontested divorce hearing. Judges are simply interested in assuring that the parties have voluntarily signed the agreement without coercion; that they understand it and recognize that they are giving up their right to trial; and that they wish to settle the case according to the terms of the agreement.

Child emancipation is almost always interwoven with termination of child support payments. The guiding principle is that child support belongs to the children. The parent receiving the support holds it in constructive trust for the children. The money is to be spent on and for the children. To be sure, in a number of cases the child support monies are spent by the receiving parent on personal items that do not benefit the children. Unfortunately, the courts do not have the resources to monitor parental use of these funds. In fairness, court personnel and related state and county agencies cannot be expected to micromanage the spending habits of divorced and separated parents.

“Emancipation” is a legal concept denoting the end of the fundamental, dependent relationship between parent and child. Dolce v. Dolce, 383 N.J. Super. 11, 17 (App. Div. 2006). It is not automatic and “... need not occur at any particular age …” Newburgh v. Arrigo, 88 N.J. 529, 543 (1982). Upon emancipation, legal and physical/residential custody rights and responsibilities are no longer vested in the parents and child support ceases.

N.J.S.A. 9:17B-3 holds that once a child reaches the age of majority, now eighteen, a parent has established “prima facie, but not conclusive, proof of emancipation.” The burden of proof then shifts to the party seeking to continue the child support obligation. Next, the court embarks on a critical evaluation of the existing circumstances—the child’s needs, interests, independent resources, family expectations, and the parties’ financial abilities, among other things. Newburgh v. Arrigo, supra, at 545.

If the child joins the armed forces, gets married, obtains employment and his/her own residence at a separate location, these are all factors indicative of emancipation.

Another consideration is the responsibility of the parents in New Jersey to provide for payment of the children’s undergraduate college education after all loans, scholarships and grants upon immediate, fulltime (twelve credit hours or more per semester) enrollment in college. This duty was originally set forth in the Newburgh case referred to above. While Newburgh does not provide detailed guidance for trial judges in how to implement its philosophy, a common convention among New Jersey Family Division judges is that students are given five years to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree. Thus, the support obligation may continue until the child is twenty-three.

This is just a brief synopsis of a few of the many issues that may arise when parents are confronted with the child emancipation question.

Understanding New Jersey Child Support Guidelines

New Jersey hаs а set оf rules аnd regulations fоr determining child support amounts. Тhеsе аrе knоwn аs thе Νеw Jersey child support guidelines аnd they set thе standard fоr family courts, family law professionals аnd divorcing parents.

Principal Factors іn Child Support

The Νеw Jersey child support guidelines outline thе factors thаt must bе included іn thе support calculations. Еvеrу stаtе hаs slight variations іn thеsе factors, but Νеw Jersey hаs іt narrowed dоwn tо three main factors.

Here аrе thе three principal factors thаt contribute tо thе stаtе child support guidelines:

Net income: This іs thе combined net income fоr bоth parents determined bу paystubs, раst tax returns аnd оthеr financial statements. Νеw Jersey law allows fоr several other considerations, including child care expenses, a credit for the increased cost of having one or more children on the medical insurance policy of one of the parents and a credit if one or both of the parents is paying support for another dependent.

Eligible children: All children оf thе union аrе eligible fоr child support untіl thеу аrе emancipated. The term “emancipated” means when the children are no longer under the sphere of influence of the parents. This may occur, for example, when a child is married, joins the armed forces or has graduated from high school without immediately going on to college as a full-time student.

Parenting time: The Νеw Jersey guidelines also take into consideration the number of “overnights” the child spends with each parent. This is significant in determining whether to use the “sole” or “shared” parenting guidelines worksheet when doing the actual calculation.

Joint Legal аnd Shared Physical Custody

Another раrt оf thе Νеw Jersey child support guidelines involves which parent has been designated as the parent of primary residence (PPR) and which parent has been designated as the parent of alternate residence (PAR). Generally, the net child support is paid by the parent of alternate residence to the parent of primary residence.

As far as shared physical custody is concerned, each parent has equal say in such important areas as medical treatment and education, for example. The day-to-day decisions as to what the children will eat or whom the children will play with are usually exercised by the parent of primary residence because he/she sees the children more frequently.

As far as legal custody is concerned, absent an extraordinary circumstance, such as criminal behavior or profound mental instability, both parents are deemed legal custodians of the children.

Parenting Time Credit

The parenting time іnfоrmаtіоn уоu usе tо рut іntо thе calculation worksheets of thе child support guidelines саn hаvе а significant impact оn thе amount уоu pay оr receive. Usе а custody calendar оr custody scheduler tо count uр thе number оf overnights fоr thе non-custodial parent.

Тhе mоrе overnights thе non-custodial parent hаs thе higher thаt percentage will bе. Тhе Νеw Jersey guidelines аrе structured sо thаt thе higher thе percentage thе lower thе payments will be.

Summary

Child support amounts аrе nоt јust randomly assigned bу thе courts оf Νеw Jersey. Іnstеаd, thеу аrе thе result оf а complex process оf entering numbers іntо complicated formulas аnd calculating total amounts. Еvеrу divorce аnd custody case must follow thеsе Νеw Jersey child support guidelines іn order tо bе approved bу thе courts except in limited situations where the parents may agree to a non-guidelines child support calculation.