Question:
Per our divorce decree and state child support laws, my child support payments end when our child reaches the age of 18 or when he graduates from high school, whichever occurs last.
My child has already reached 18 and has already finished his course work to complete high school, yet he doesn’t actually participate in his high school graduation ceremony until this summer when the rest of his class graduates.
So should my child support terminate when he actually completes all of his course work or must I continue paying until this summer when he walks across the stage and physically is awarded his diploma?
Answer:
This answer only includes general divorce help for men since I am only licensed to practice in Oklahoma and am thus unable to provide legal advice on divorce or child support laws in your state.
I think you could reasonably argue that the actual graduation ceremony doesn’t make any difference. However, you may want to look into this question a little deeper.
Believe it or not, a court in your state has likely answered this question before. A thorough search of both statutory law and appellate court opinions can definitely answer this question for you.
Where I am licensed to practice, a child is a graduate upon satisfactorily completing the work and receiving final grades at which point child support would end, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s how it works in your state, although I suspect it’s similar.
Child Support:
An experienced divorce lawyer in your state will be able to answer your question and provide you with support statutory child support laws or case law.
To set up an appointment with a Cordell and Cordell mens divorce attorney, including Oklahoma City Divorce Lawyer Christian D. Barnard, please contact Cordell & Cordell.
