Parental obligations with emancipated children
You’ve been paying child support to your former spouse for years now, but your 18-year-old daughter recently advised you that she has gotten a full-time job and plans to get her own apartment with a friend. She’s clearly self-sufficient and a legal adult, but the original support order calls for you to provide for her financially until she turns 21. What are your options?
In this instance, your child is clearly emancipated, which means that she is no longer requires a parent’s care. In New York, a child between the ages of 16 and 21 is considered to be emancipated when they:
- Get a full-time job that allows them to support themselves financially
- Join the military
- Get married
- Defy parental control and act out
- Leave the parental home voluntarily (no abusive or neglectful conditions force them to leave)
- Voluntarily terminate their relationship with both parents
Emancipation under 18
Once a child turns 18, they have certain rights and freedoms that a younger person can only obtain through emancipation. In other words, an emancipated 16 or 17-year-old may legally do all of the following without parental consent:
- Maintain their own residence separate from that of their parents
- Keep their wages
- Receive certain public benefits
Until they are 18, however, they need a parent’s permission for the following, unless they are married, pregnant, or parents themselves:
- Getting their working papers
- Obtaining a learner’s permit or driver’s license
- Getting routine health care (exceptions to this restriction include emergency treatment, family planning services, and mental health treatment)
The emancipation process
A child does not become emancipated by a judicial order. Instead, the court declares them emancipated while another case is being dealt with. For example, after your daughter moves out of your former spouse’s home, you may apply for a modification of the original support agreement. The judge will likely conclude that she is emancipated and, if she is your only child, terminate the support order.
It is important to remember, however, that an emancipated child under 21 can become financially dependent on their parents once again. If your daughter loses her job, forcing her to move back in with your ex before she turns 21, you become responsible for child support once again.
No parent should ever conclude that because their child has moved out, gotten a full-time job, or joined the military, they can simply stop paying child support. Only the court can declare the child emancipated and cancel a parent’s support obligations. Any other course of conduct can be treated as contempt of a court order.
If you are a parent of a child who is technically emancipated and have questions about your support obligations, contact a New York family law attorney who can answer your questions, go over your options, and help you ensure that the support situation is handled in accordance with the law. If you need assistance with the emancipation process, then contact the lawyers of Eskin & Eskin, P.C. With more than 40 years of combined experience, they understand how the law and the court system works. Their office is conveniently located steps away from the Bronx County courthouses. Call 718-402-5204 or visit www.EskinAndEskinLaw.com to learn more.
