What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana
Greetings,
My son is a full time college student and just turned 21. I asked an attorney friend if there was anything that I needed to do once my son turned 21 in regards to child support and he said no, that emancipation is automatic once the child turns 21.
The court signed agreement that the mother and I filed ourselves states nothing but this:
1. Blah blah blah support will be increased to x amount.
2. The $x.xx per week payment by Respondent/Father shall be paid to the Petitioner/Mother every two weeks at the Petitioner's home address.
3. That the Respondent/Father is responsible for all reasonable future medical, dental and optical expenses.
Then the signatures at the bottom. This order was filed by us to take support out of the courts because Porter County was a nightmare for 10+ years. The mother actually did the leg work to get the paper drawn up and filed. Bottom line, the courts are no longer involved.
My question is this. The mother is now saying that I have to file for emancipation even if he is 21, and in fact that her lawyer told her I was supposed to have filed that weeks before his 21st birthday. He told her that otherwise I should pay support until he is 24 or after his 4th year at school (can't remember which.) This came as news to me based on the bazillion things I read online and heard from others.
To confuse matters, I did come across a couple posts somewhere (out of the bazillion) that said the non-custodial parent in some counties of Indiana has to hire an attorney to get support stopped at 21, but those cases were handled through the court and the clerk's office.
She also said that because there was no "end date" specified on the support agreement, that is why I needed to file for emancipation. I assumed that anything that WASN'T in the court order was assumed under Indiana Support Guidelines.
Does anyone know for certain if I in fact have to hire an attorney to get this done? As I said, I pay directly to her, no courts, no clerk.
Thanks in advance for any advice. My lawyer's office is closed right now and I am stressing.
Greetings,
My son is a full time college student and just turned 21. I asked an attorney friend if there was anything that I needed to do once my son turned 21 in regards to child support and he said no, that emancipation is automatic once the child turns 21.
The court signed agreement that the mother and I filed ourselves states nothing but this:
1. Blah blah blah support will be increased to x amount.
2. The $x.xx per week payment by Respondent/Father shall be paid to the Petitioner/Mother every two weeks at the Petitioner's home address.
3. That the Respondent/Father is responsible for all reasonable future medical, dental and optical expenses.
Then the signatures at the bottom. This order was filed by us to take support out of the courts because Porter County was a nightmare for 10+ years. The mother actually did the leg work to get the paper drawn up and filed. Bottom line, the courts are no longer involved.
My question is this. The mother is now saying that I have to file for emancipation even if he is 21, and in fact that her lawyer told her I was supposed to have filed that weeks before his 21st birthday. He told her that otherwise I should pay support until he is 24 or after his 4th year at school (can't remember which.) This came as news to me based on the bazillion things I read online and heard from others.
To confuse matters, I did come across a couple posts somewhere (out of the bazillion) that said the non-custodial parent in some counties of Indiana has to hire an attorney to get support stopped at 21, but those cases were handled through the court and the clerk's office.
She also said that because there was no "end date" specified on the support agreement, that is why I needed to file for emancipation. I assumed that anything that WASN'T in the court order was assumed under Indiana Support Guidelines.
Does anyone know for certain if I in fact have to hire an attorney to get this done? As I said, I pay directly to her, no courts, no clerk.
Thanks in advance for any advice. My lawyer's office is closed right now and I am stressing.
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