Children Do Not Automatically Age Out At 18
Video Transcribed: What happens if my child turns 18 and my ex still owes child support? I’m Tulsa Family Law Attorney James Wirth. And that’s the question: what happens when a child ages out of support is still owed?
So first off, I want to clarify that children do not automatically age out at 18. If they have graduated high school, then they do age out at 18. If they’re still continuously rolled in high school, then they don’t age out until after 18, when they graduate, or the age of 20 at the latest.
But when they do age out, what happens with the child support obligation? Generally speaking, if you have payments set up through DHS, if you have payments set up through an intercept that automatically comes out of their check, those payments will continue to come out until the arrearage is taken care of in the same amount.
So nothing changes as far as the payments keep coming. It just goes towards the arrearage since the current child support will have stopped when they age out.
However, if the party that owes the money files to modify that payment because the child is aged out, it is likely that the court would lower that because there’s no current child support and lower it to an amount that is more appropriate for it just being a payment on the arrearage.
That’s not a guarantee, but that would be done under those circumstances. So, what happens if my child’s age is out while child support is still owed? Are they continue having to pay that child support until that arrearage is resolved?
Suppose you have questions about child support in Oklahoma or other legal issues. In that case, talk to a Tulsa Child Support Attorney and get legal advice from counsel. To get that scheduled with an attorney at my office, you can go to makelaweasy.com.
