New Jersey Child Support, Part 2

When does child support terminate?

A child support order will terminate once the child becomes emancipated. Emancipation basically means that the child can take care of themselves. Because self-reliance can occur at any age and under any given set of facts, there is no set age when a child will be determined to be emancipated. Many people erroneously believe that once the child turns 18 then their child support ends. This is not the case in New Jersey. The State of New Jersey has some of the strictest child support laws in the United States.

In most property settlement agreements the parties will delineate as to what events or circumstances will define an emancipation. When an agreement does not exist, the courts generally will presume that a child becomes emancipated at the age of 18. The Child Support Guidelines do not apply to a child who is 18 years or older and no longer in high school or any other secondary educational institution. A child often will be declared emancipated when the child marries or if the child has his or her own child. Additionally, a child may be declared emancipated if he or she enters into the military.

Does a person have to pay for the college costs for their child?

The courts have viewed education as a necessity. The recent trend in New Jersey has been to require parents to pay for the college costs for their children. Therefore, if the child is attending college, then it is very unlikely that a court will grant an emancipation motion.

When a court makes a decision as to whether or not to require a parent to pay for a child's college education and related expenses, the court must consider the complete set of facts of each case. The court will analyze the following factors to assess if a parent should pay for a child's college costs; (1) the effect of the background, values, and goals of the parent on the reasonableness of the expectation of the child for higher education; (2) the amount of contribution sought by the child for the cost of the higher education; (3) the ability of the parent to pay that cost; (4) the relationship of the requested contribution to the kind of school or course of study sought by the child; (5) the financial resources of both parties; (6) the commitment to and aptitude of the child for the requested education; (7) the financial resources of the child, including assets held individually or in custodianship or trust; (8) the ability of the child to earn income during the school year or on vacation; (9) the availability of financial aid in the form of college grants; (10) the child's relationship to the paying parent, including mutual affection and shared goals as well as responsiveness to parental advice and guidance; (11) the relationship of education requested to any prior training and to the overall long range goals of the child.

The decision on whether or not a parent should pay for the college costs rests in the court's hand. However, there is a strong trend towards requiring parents, if they are financial capable, to pay for the college. In most cases, the courts will not require the payor to pay for college and for child support at the same time. However, once again the key issue is how much money the payor who is usually the father has.

How can a person emancipate a child and stop paying child support?

Child support does not end automatically once the child turns 18. A person who pays child support must file an application with the court clerk and it is known as a motion to request that the child be declared emancipated. The child support obligation will only end once a family court judge enters an order that declares the child emancipated. The order of emancipation is then given to Probation, and the garnishment of the payor's pay check will then be stopped.

This entire emancipation process takes about 3 to 4 months. Therefore, the emancipation application should be made in advance of the child's graduation from high school or of their 18th birthday. In some counties, the judge will rule on the emancipation application only on the papers, and a court appearance will not be necessary. However, in some counties a hearing is set down, regardless whether the opposing party files an objection.

In summary, it is extremely important to always timely file for emancipation. A person should not take it for granted that child support automatically ends once the child turns 18. I have had many cases when child support arrearages accrues into the tens of thousands of dollars, even after the child is well over 18 years of age. The parent can avoid this problem if they just file a timely emancipation motion. The child support arrearages continue to accrue up until the child reaches the age of 26. If a person just ignores filing for emancipation, then eventually they will get a bill from Probation advising him that he owes tens of thousands of dollars in back child support. Furthermore, Probation will advise him that his driver's license is also indefinitely suspended.

How is child support enforced if one parent does not pay?

In many cases, the parent does not pay their child support obligations. There is no shortage of "dead beat dads" and "deadbeat moms" in New Jersey. When a parent fails to pay child support child support and the money becomes past due, the amount is called an arrearage. There are two types of arrears: fixed arrears and unfixed arrears. Fixed arrears are amounts which a court has found to be due and owing. Unfixed arrears are amounts which the support payor owes, but which have not been addressed by the court. An enforcement application is an attempt to get the courts to address the arrears and require the owing parent to pay.

A party or an attorney for a party may file an application for enforcement. Additionally, when the child support is being collected by the local Probation Department, the Probation Officer that supervises the case may also file an enforcement application. If a party fails to make their child support payments, the Probation Department will notify the payor that his continued failure to pay will result in contempt proceedings.

Thereafter, once the supporter payor falls behind more that 14 days in payments, then the Probation Department will file a statement with the court, and set forth the facts regarding the non-payment. Following that step, the Probation Department may then apply to the court for relief on behalf of the party who is opposed to receive support.

In a divorce case, if a party is not paying child support, then an enforcement motion is filed by the supported spouse. Probation will not get involved in enforcement motions of child support if the case is still in divorce proceedings.

How is child support collected?

In most of the cases, all child support is collected by wage garnishment through Probation. Most child support orders provide for income withholding or wage execution. It is not advisable that child support be collected by a direct pay. This can lead to unending accounting issues and collection issues.

An order for withholding will require an employer to deduct the child support payment directly from the employee's pay checks. The employer then forwards the withheld amount to the Probation Department. Once the support is received and recorded, Probation then forwards the payment to the supported spouse. If the payor spouse also owes child support arrears, then the child support order may also require that these monies should also be garnished.

Can a person be arrested if a parent does not pay child support?

A court also has other more drastic methods to make a person pay child support. The court has the ability to suspend a person's driver's license or professional license if he/she refuses to pay child support. A court can suspend a person's law license, medical license, or any other license. The threat of this type of this sanction can instill the fear of god into someone. In many cases, child support is paid up to date rather quickly once this threat is put in writing or in a motion. The court can also suspend a person's passport if he refuses to pay child support. This can cause significant aggravation to a person if he frequently travels for business.

Additionally, if a person accrues child support arrears then this is reported to the three credit bureaus. A report of significant child support arrearages can really nuke a person's credit score. Moreover, child support arrearages also constitute a lien on a person's real estate. In short, a person can't refinance their home if he has child support arrearages.

If all of the above sanctions do not work, then the court will issue a bench warrant for the "deadbeat dad." The Sheriff will then go out and arrest the "deadbeat dad" at his home or at his place of employment. Once the warrant has been issued, then if the "deadbeat dad" is arrested for a traffic ticket, then the local police officer will arrest and incarcerate him on the bench warrant.

The "deadbeat dad" will then be taken to the County Jail. The court will set a purge amount. A purge amount is the amount of the child support arrearages that the "deadbeat dad" must pay in order to be released from jail.

The "deadbeat dad" will eventually be taken before the court for a "purge hearing." The court will not permit the defendant to be released until some of the child support arrearages can be paid. Moreover, the defendant must also propose a reasonable payment plan for the arrears.

What is the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act?

A very important issue in child support is whether a New Jersey support award can be enforced in other states. Alternatively, can an out of state child support award be enforced in New Jersey. To address these interstate child support issues, the United States Commission on Interstate Child support, has created a federal law called Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA).

Each state has their own set of child support guidelines. New Jersey has some of the strictest and highest child support awards in the United States. Therefore, in many cases where a person moves to another state, he may try to have a child support award established anywhere but New Jersey. The child support awards are much lower in the southern states and in Florida than they are in New Jersey. The child support awards are higher in New York than in New Jersey.

The UIFSA is very complex. The parties can generally litigate for years and battle over which state has jurisdiction to establish child support. This can be a very important issue. If a person lives in the south, and if they have to pay a New Jersey child support award, this can be quite a hardship. The wages and salaries are generally lower outside of the tri-state area. Therefore, many people will try to have a child support award calculated in their home state.

In general, the state where the child lives has controlling jurisdiction over the case. It can be very difficult to enforce a child support order if a person moves out of New Jersey. The sister state will enforce the child support order. However, in many sister states they are very slow in their efforts to use their police powers to enforce the New Jersey child support order.

It is common knowledge that many "deadbeat dads" deliberately move out of New Jersey to try to avoid child support. With the advent of computers, it is now almost impossible for a "deadbeat dad" to hide forever. However, the sister state may not be as aggressive or efficient as New Jersey is in enforcing the collection of child support.