In Indiana if you are divorced and are the noncustodial parent, you will be required to pay child support. Indiana uses the income shares model to determine the amount of child support the noncustodial parent will owe. The amount of child support owed is based on the estimated parental support if the parents were to continue to live together, and is then prorated depending on the noncustodial parent’s share of total income. Ultimately, child support is an equitable attempt to balance the cost of raising a child. Eventually, the child support obligation may come to an end, just as a parent’s obligation to support their children would come to an end. However in these modern times, there are circumstances where children require more support and the parent’s obligation is extended beyond emancipation.
Child Emancipation
Child emancipation is a fancy legal phrase that simply means that a child is now an adult. In the legal world, emancipation means that a child’s parents are no longer obligated to support that child. Child emancipation arises when a child becomes nineteen years old. The nineteen year cutoff is fairly new to Indiana, where the previous age was twenty-one years. In Indiana if you are ordered to pay child support, you will have to continue to pay child support until the child is nineteen. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule regarding emancipation and child support.
Post Secondary Education Tuition and Expenses
The first detail to address involves a college education for your child/ren. In the last twenty years, receiving an American college education has been ubiquitous and a child that doesn’t receive a college education is certainly at a disadvantage. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, a bachelor’s degree-holding young adult earns, on average, $15,000 more than a high school diploma-holding young adult. Unless a child completes their studies within a year, a child will be in college past the nineteen year emancipation threshold. Furthermore, a child in college will most likely need continued financial support, as paying for college carries a heavy financial burden. College expenses must be discussed and planned for with the ex-spouse. The college tuition and expense discussion should begin upon the dissolution of the marriage.
Health Insurance
The Affordable Healthcare Act (“Obamacare”) allows children to remain on their parent’s health insurance until they are twenty-six years old. Depending on a divorced couple’s final decree and child support agreement, health care expenses are often included under post-secondary education obligations. Typically, the health care expenses of a nineteen-year-old in college are a two-for-one deal: parents most support both their child’s college expense, and because their child is in school and incapable of affording health insurance, parent’s take on the health insurance obligation as well.
Contact Chris Arrington, an Indiana Family Law Attorney
If you and your spouse are considering getting a divorce and have children, you will be best served hiring an experienced Indiana family law attorney. Danville family lawyer, Christopher Arrington, will guide through the entire divorce process. If you have already received a divorce, but your Indiana child support agreement does not address your child’s needs beyond emancipation, Christopher Arrington will help you in modifying your child support agreement.