In Massachusetts, the short answer to the question above is probably—but not necessarily. Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 208, Section 28, parents must support children aged 18 to 21. This applies if the child lives with a parent and depends on them for support. A court may order a parent to pay support until the child turns 23. This happens if the child turns 21, keeps a legal domicile with the parent, relies mainly on the parent for support, and enrolls in an educational program. Of note, an educational program does not include graduate work.
It may seem counterintuitive since the child is away at college. However, Massachusetts believes the child still needs support. The custodial parent requires help to maintain a home for the child to return to during breaks and provide necessary support.
To break this down further, a child can still be “primarily domiciled” with a parent while living on campus. In Massachusetts, “domicile” refers to a person’s legal residence. Several factors define it. These include the address on a driver’s license, tax returns, and voter registration. It also considers the location of the legal mailing address. Additionally, the person’s intention to return home during school breaks or when not in session is a factor. So, even if your child is not living with a custodial parent for the majority of the time while he or she is in college, domicile for purposes of child support most likely will be with the parent who had primary physical custody when the child left for college.
The court considers both economic and non-economic support to determine if a child depends on a parent with legal domicile. Support is defined in both direct and indirect terms. It includes financial support, emotional support, and assistance with decision-making. Additionally, it covers a parent’s involvement in the child’s well-being.
The custodial parent may still be entitled to child support. However, the court can amend the support amount. This adjustment depends on each parent’s contribution to college costs. Courts can order parents to contribute towards college costs as well as modify the amount of child support if a parent is contributing towards college costs. Court’s also have more discretion as to the amount of support once the children have reached the age of 18, so making equitable and “fairness” arguments become more effective. The new child support guidelines promulgated August 1, 2013 now require that a judge take into consideration each parent’s contributions and ability to contribute to college costs when making an award of child support.
A parent may need to continue paying child support for their college-aged child. However, the non-custodial parent might benefit from seeking a modification. If the non-custodial parent contributes significantly to the child’s college education and expenses, the support amount could be adjusted.
If you are paying child support for a child who has gone off the college, and the child is either not domiciled with the recipient of the support or not getting the same level of emotional or financial support from that parent, or if you’re contributing to college expenses, you may have a good case to modify child support or eliminate it altogether. To get a sense of your legal rights, I recommend you speak with an experienced divorce lawyer. To schedule a free consultation today, during which we’d do a free initial assessment of your child support case, call 978-225-9030 during regular business hours. Or, complete and submit the contact form found here and we’ll contact you back at our earliest opportunity.