Under NJ law, divorce parents have an obligation to financially support the children of the marriage until they are emancipated. There is no age at which a child will automatically be declared emancipated and each case needs to be evaluated and decided on an individualized basis. However, the general rule is that if a child moves out of the home to attend college then the child support for that child should be recalculated and most likely reduced. But be careful: as the case summary below describes, the parties eliminated this “automatic” review due to the specific language in their settlement agreement. Without reading the entire settlement agreement I cannot offer an opinion as to the overall reasonableness of the decision but still, it should serve as warning and illustrates the benefits of working with an experienced divorce attorney.
FAMILY LAW 20-2-1516 Gartenberg v. Gartenberg, App. Div. (per curiam) (7 pp.) Defendant appeals from an order denying his application to reduce child support based on his youngest child residing away from plaintiff’s home at college. Defendant argues that the motion judge erred in reading the PSA to preclude a reduction in child support due only to the change in circumstances of his youngest child. Absent the parties’ agreement to the contrary, attendance at college away from home is considered a change of circumstances calling for the recalculation of child support. However, here the parties clearly agreed on what would constitute a change of circumstances. The parents decided that child support would continue until their last unemancipated child graduated from college or was otherwise emancipated, as long as defendant did not lose his job. The appellate panel affirms, agreeing with Judge Tassini’s conclusion that the PSA removes this case from the general provisions controlling modification of child support.
