We continue to receive many, many questions relating to support for children over 18 years of age. This is understandable given there continue to be many misconceptions out there about this area of the law.
As we posted in the first post in this series, child support does not automatically end when a child is 18. That is not the law in Ontario and in fact, Canada. While society may view 18-year-olds as adults, family law does not necessarily take that approach when it comes to child support.
There are a variety of circumstances in which a young person over the age of 18 could remain eligible for child support. These vary depending on the circumstances of each particular case so you should present your unique facts to a lawyer and have him or her assess your particular situation.
A young person with special medical needs may remain eligible for child support well after the age of 18, even if they are not attending school but here, whether the claim is made under the Divorce Act or the Family Law Act makes a difference. In this respect, whether the parents of the child were married or not may impact on either parent's ability to make a claim for child support in these circumstances. Again, this area of the law is somewhat technical so you should consult a lawyer to find out how the legislation applies to you.
We have also come across a number of inquiries suggesting the following, common misconception: that mothers always continue to receive child support for a young person over 18 if he/she continues to reside with the mother. That is not always the case. Again, the particular circumstances of the case dictate whether that is true or not. Why is the child continuing to live with the mother? What is this young person doing while continuing to live with the mother? Is he/she attending school? Is he/she working full-time, for example, and living with Mom because it is just cheaper and more convenient? Whether child support continues to be payable depends on the answers to these (and additional) questions.
Very soon, we will be posting some thoughts in response to the following, common question: "can I pay child support directly to my child?".....
UPDATE - January, 2018
We are pleased to let you know that our Etsy shop is now OPEN!
Visit it here: SELFREP SUPPORT
In the shop, we make available to you Manuals (E-books) on various topics, to assist you in representing yourself before Ontario's family law Courts.
So far, we have Manuals on preparing an effective:
As we posted in the first post in this series, child support does not automatically end when a child is 18. That is not the law in Ontario and in fact, Canada. While society may view 18-year-olds as adults, family law does not necessarily take that approach when it comes to child support.
There are a variety of circumstances in which a young person over the age of 18 could remain eligible for child support. These vary depending on the circumstances of each particular case so you should present your unique facts to a lawyer and have him or her assess your particular situation.
A young person with special medical needs may remain eligible for child support well after the age of 18, even if they are not attending school but here, whether the claim is made under the Divorce Act or the Family Law Act makes a difference. In this respect, whether the parents of the child were married or not may impact on either parent's ability to make a claim for child support in these circumstances. Again, this area of the law is somewhat technical so you should consult a lawyer to find out how the legislation applies to you.
We have also come across a number of inquiries suggesting the following, common misconception: that mothers always continue to receive child support for a young person over 18 if he/she continues to reside with the mother. That is not always the case. Again, the particular circumstances of the case dictate whether that is true or not. Why is the child continuing to live with the mother? What is this young person doing while continuing to live with the mother? Is he/she attending school? Is he/she working full-time, for example, and living with Mom because it is just cheaper and more convenient? Whether child support continues to be payable depends on the answers to these (and additional) questions.
Very soon, we will be posting some thoughts in response to the following, common question: "can I pay child support directly to my child?".....
UPDATE - January, 2018
We are pleased to let you know that our Etsy shop is now OPEN!
Visit it here: SELFREP SUPPORT
In the shop, we make available to you Manuals (E-books) on various topics, to assist you in representing yourself before Ontario's family law Courts.
So far, we have Manuals on preparing an effective:
- Financial Statement (both long-form and short-form); and
- Affidavit.
MORE MANUALS TO COME!
How does a mother get away with receiving support for a child almost 19 years of age and has not attended school full time since she was 17 years old??? This child does not work and has now become pregnant. Her boyfriend is 17 with a 16 month old chil and is into drugs and alcohol. The child in question was into drugs and alcohol until she found out she was pregnant. She still smokes. My guess the mother collecting the support is providing her with the money for her habits. I find this very unfair to the father paying the support and I have heard it is against the law. Is this correct? If so why does the father have to spend thousands to a lawyer to have support stopped. The system needs revamping to help those paying the support. As the lawyer said this woman is a scammer!! To me this is fraud and the courts need to recognize this and step up to the plate and do something about it, NOW!!
ReplyDeleteDC
PLEASE NOTE that this response does not constitute legal advice: you mention courts in your post and you are on the right track - courts do deal with these types of cases, everyday!! But remember, a judge can only deal with a case if he/she knows about it - in other words, of one of the parties goes to court to address the issue. No, you do not have to have a lawyer or spend thousands of dollars on a lawyer - you can attend at court on your own and/or attend after getting some advice from a lawyer before you do - many lawyers now provide "unbundled services", which means they give specific assistance with specific tasks only rather then being involved in every aspect of the case. You should not get too hung up on the idea of "full time" attendance at school because the courts are becoming more and more flexible on this issue but you present other, very interesting facts which may be enough to end support. Please get advice from a family law lawyer. We are happy to give you a 30 min free consult.
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