Can My Ex Open A New Child Support Case In Another State?

St. Louis divorce lawyerQuestion:

My child support payments ended several months ago when my 18-year-old child was considered emancipated by the state the original order was issued in.

However, my ex-wife and child now live in another state where the child support age of emancipation is 21, and she is threatening to take me back to court to have a new support order entered until our child turns 21.

Can she do that even if my child support orders were already fulfilled by the issuing state?

Answer:

I am unable to give you legal advice on divorce. I can give general divorce help for men, though, my knowledge is based on Missouri child support laws where I am licensed to practice.

If your state’s child support law terminates child support once the child reaches the age of 18, another state’s courts likely do not have jurisdiction in your case to modify the child support order.

Pursuant to the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution, states are required to give respect to valid judgments issued in a sister state.

This means, that regardless of what the law is in another state, if the child support laws in the state where the judgment was entered provide that child support ends at age 18, then another state’s courts must respect that judgment and cannot modify its terms based on its own laws.

Please keep in mind there are exceptions to when courts are required to uphold the judgments of other states, so it is in your best interests to talk with a mens divorce attorney regarding the details of your case.

Remember, I am unable to provide you with anything more than divorce tips for men, so please consult with a divorce lawyer in your jurisdiction.

To arrange an initial consultation to discuss divorce rights for men with a Cordell & Cordell attorney, including St. Louis Divorce Lawyer Brittany Brown, contact Cordell & Cordell.

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One comment on “Can My Ex Open A New Child Support Case In Another State?

    so here is my question, to start off i haven’t seen my son an about 2 years, for the first year i have been going to the field a lot for training (in the military), so i haven’t been able to keep in contact with him alot, plus to be honest i wasn’t the best person to keep in contact with, im horrible to keep in contact with people. i know this is bad on my part, but my ex threatened to file abandonment unless i was more in his life, so i agreed and tried to talk to call him once or twice a week. the first summer i was supposed to have him for the 2 months of my visitation my ex told me that he wanted to play baseball which ate up most of my time but i would have had him for 3 weeks i believe, then when it came time for me to get him for the 3 weeks she said she had surgery and couldn’t drive, and i couldn’t fly there cause i didn’t have the money for plane tickets, or the time for a couple day plane ride, i was going to drive there and back in 1 day. i understood cause the surgery wasnt her fault, and i felt that i since i was in the dog house for not contacting him, and he wanted to play baseball for the first month and a half of summer so i let him stay. well when my ex told me she had surgery it would have only left me with 4 days and i would have to drive at least 12 hours, it didn’t seem feasible cause i wouldn’t be able to take him home just to take him back, most of our time together would be driving.

    then winter break came, i still called every week, was supposed to get him for 2 weeks, for make up for not getting him this summer. and she came up with the excuse that the weather was to bad to drive, and wouldn’t work with me for another day., now she is threatening to not let me have him this summer stating that my wife is harassing her, which i know for a fact she isn’t, cause my wife wants nothing to do with my ex, plus she isn’t that type of person. i guess my overall question is, is that she wants to open up a case in Utah where my son cant be around my wife at all, and we got divorced in Oklahoma, is that possible? i apologize for the lengthy post.

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