The new child support statute entitled Termination of Obligation to Pay Child Support, N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.67, became effective on Feb. 1. Under this statute, a child support obligation terminates “by operation of law” when the child turns 19, which termination can be extended until the child turns 23 under certain circumstances and procedures. Unless another age for termination of support is present in an order or where the child is in an out-of-home placement, the burden is on the custodial parent to submit an application and supporting documentation to the court seeking an extension of child support beyond the child’s 19th birthday. Such a burden is nothing new, as a child reaching the age of majority has long been “prima facie, but not conclusive, proof of emancipation.” Llewelyn v. Shewchuk, 440 N.J. Super. 207, 216 (App. Div. 2015). However, the statute’s definitive termination of a child support obligation upon the child’s 23rd birthday is new.
An important question to be raised in conjunction with this statute is how it will impact children with special needs. Section (e) of the new statute provides that the court is not prevented “from converting, due to exceptional circumstances, including, but not limited to, a mental or physical disability, a child support obligation to another form of financial maintenance for a child who has reached the age of 23.” As such, it would seem that the legislature simply seeks to relieve the State’s Probation Departments from the obligation to monitor and enforce an ongoing child support obligation of a parent to a child with special needs. By rebranding child support as “financial maintenance” parties will be left to their own devices with regard to setting up ongoing payment and collection of support for a child with special needs.
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