A finding that a child is emancipated terminates the legal obligation of the parent’s to provide financial support to the child. Child support obligations end once a child is declared emancipated. Given the financial ramifications of deciding that a child is emancipated, it is a decision the courts do not take likely and an emancipation hearing is generally initiated by the non-custodial parent.
However, in a recently decided case of first impression, the court granted a child’s request to be emancipated. Using the same analysis that would apply if the parent were seeking to emanciapte a child, the trial court judge found this 18 year old to be “beyond the sphere of influence” of her parents. As summarized by the NJ Law Journal:
FAMILY LAW — CHILD SUPPORT
20-4-7418 Ort v. Ort, Ch. Div., Family Pt. — Ocean Co. (Jones, J.S.C.) (9 pp.) Once a child of divorced parents turns 18, it is very common for a noncustodial parent to immediately attempt to emancipate the child and terminate child support. This case, however, presents a completely opposite legal issue of first impression: What happens when a child who turns 18 seeks her own emancipation over parental objection, i.e., when a parent asserts that emancipation is premature or otherwise inappropriate because the child is allegedly still within the sphere of parental influence? Pursuant to Rule 1:36-2(d)(2) and (6), Ort addresses important questions of family law and the right of an 18-year-old “child” (now adult) to independence from her parents. [Decided May 3, 2012.]
