John Zurzola partner with Weber Gallagher Simpson Stapleton Fires & Newby. Courtesy photo
Against the backdrop of clearly codified law and procedure and the mandatory direction that is frequently given to us by the courts in any one area of the law, it goes without saying that the facts of any individual case when applied to existing law may make a situation not clear at all. Nowhere can this be seen to be as true as in the issue of emancipation of children for child support purposes when a disability exists or is alleged.
The rules and caselaw make clear that the duty of a parent to support a child ends upon emancipation, which is generally when the child turns 18 years of age AND graduates from high school. See, 23 Pa.C.S. Section 4321 and Pa.R.C.P. 1910.19. Other factors may mandate that a parent must support a child past 18 years of age. A clear example may be when there is a divorce agreement negotiated between the parties prior to emancipation where one or both of the parties contracted to continue to support the child, say, through college graduation. However, child support past 18 is usually seen in cases where the child has special needs or is disabled. Apart from cases where obvious or profound disabilities can be seen to exist, the issue of a child’s disability can be tricky and will depend on the facts or disability indicators that have already been established.
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