Child support is typically provided until the child turns 18 years old, or in some cases, until the child is 19 and a half years old. Does a parent have to continue to pay child support if their child enlists in the military? You could have to pay child support if your child is still a high school student. However, if your child is old enough to join the military, he or she can also be old enough to no longer require ongoing child support. It’s also crucial to keep in mind that military duty admits people after they graduate from high school and may have age requirements for some services.
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In many divorce settlements in Michigan, child support plays a significant role. In many situations, the child will spend most of their time living with one parent while receiving child support from the other. Child support primarily helps to meet the child’s basic necessities, including food, clothes, schooling, and regular medical costs.
When Are You Allowed to Stop Paying for Child Support?
In Michigan, child support normally lasts until the child turns 18 or, if the child is still in high school and resides with the custodial parent, until the child is 19 1/2. A child may be eligible for ongoing child support payments if they have specific physical or mental problems.
If the parent meets the following criteria, they may ask the court for child support payments:
- [ a ] The child who is not a minor is not emancipated.
- [ b ] After the child lost his or her right to child support, the impairment did not appear.
Typically, child support is terminated at age 18. However, if the child is still enrolled in high school full-time and has a good chance of finishing by the age of 19 and six months, child assistance may continue past the age of 18. Additionally, the child must full-time reside with the parent receiving child support. Typically, there are two key events going on here. One milestone is when a child reaches the age of majority, which is 18 or as the child is emancipated. The conclusion of secondary school is the second significant event.
Here are two typical situations that occur close to the child support cutoff date. A child can first complete high school before turning 18 years old. In that case, the parent who is paying child support must keep doing so until the child turns 18 years old. The second case involves a teenager who turns 18 while still enrolled in high school.
In this scenario, the child’s 18th birthday would come and go, but the paying parent would still be obligated to pay child support as long as the child is enrolled in high school full-time, earning credits that will allow them to graduate by the age of 19 and 6 months, and residing with them full-time.
What Does Emancipation Mean?
A minor child gets emancipated when they are freed from their parents’ custody and authority. According to the terms of state laws of Michigan, emancipation may take place automatically or as a result of a petition submitted by a minor to the circuit court’s family division.
It is the legal process granting minors the freedom to make decisions on their own and without parental approval. In general, the child must demonstrate he or she is financially independent of their parents’ support. If there are significant reasons, like parental abuse, it may also be authorized.
Emancipation by operation of law.
A minor who is emancipated by operation of law does not need to submit a petition; it occurs automatically. By virtue of the law, you become free when:
- [ a ] You’ve been married legally;
- [ b ] You reach the age of 18;
- [ c ] You are a member of the American Armed Forces and are actively serving;
- [ d ] You require nonsurgical medical care or emergency medical treatment, you’re in the custody of the police, and it’s taking a while to find your parents. You are only emancipated in this scenario in order to consent to medical treatment. When your medical treatment is finished or when law enforcement releases you, whichever comes first, the emancipation ends; or
- [ e ] You require preventive health care, medical care, including surgery, dental care, or mental health care while you are a prisoner in a correctional facility where your parent cannot be readily contacted. You are only granted emancipation in order to just provide your agreement for medical treatment.
If not, you must submit an emancipation petition. This includes minors who are not married and are expecting or parenting.
Emancipation by Court Order
When a minor files a petition with the court wanting to be emancipated, the process of emancipation by court order begins. To be emancipated, a minor must be at least 16 years old.
If the judge determines that it is in the minor’s best interests, they must issue the emancipation order. The minor must establish:
- [a] Parents of the minor don’t object OR
- [b] Parents who object to the minor’s request are not providing for them financially.
The child:
- [a] Is able to manage their own finances;
- [b] Can handle their own affairs, including social ones; and
- [c] Recognizes his or her duties as an emancipated individual.
After emancipation, parents no longer have the authority to make decisions for their minor children or to control them. When a child is emancipated, the parents lose control over things like where their child lives, attends school, and how money is spent. The parent has no more claim to the minor’s earnings or wages.
In some circumstances, the parents of the emancipated child are also released from some obligations. For instance, child support obligations for the parents would no longer be available. Injuries that their child causes to other persons or property are not the parents’ fault. Instead, the minor child could be brought to court and made to pay for any harm they create.
Usually, a minor must apply to the Court for emancipation, and the request must be granted by the court. Depending on the State, court-appointed attorneys might be accessible for these processes if the minor is from a low-income family.
Some States allow specific circumstances to “emancipate” a minor without further court intervention. Emancipation may result from a variety of circumstances, including marriage and military service.
At age 17, you can sign up for military service.
What Is the Impact of Enlistment or Military Service to Child Support?
An emancipated seventeen-year-old may enlist in the military in accordance with federal law as long as no parent or legal guardian has the right to custody and control of them. The Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard are the other five branches of the armed forces that have regulatory power over it.
The key word here is emancipated. Another key word in relation to emancipation in the context of enlistment is the word active duty. According to the provision of 722.4 Section 4. (2) (c ) of Act 293 of 1968, an emancipation can occur by operation of law during the period when the minor is called for “active duty” with the armed forces of the United States.
Let’s give it a second read: “Emancipation can occur by operation of law during the period when the minor is called for “active duty” with the armed forces of the United States.”
This means the window when “active duty” starts and ends is the window we can call emancipation. The logic for this window of emancipation is to allow the minor to make decisions during life and death situations in times of combat duty. It does not necessarily emancipate the child from parental authority or control after active duty ends; hence, ending child support may not be feasible yet.
There’s also confusion between parents about going to military school and enlistment. Some parents may think that a child going to military school frees them from child support or justifies modification (or reduction) of child support. Remember that military school does not equate to “active duty” status for the child. A child is not emancipated by enrolling in a military school.
The ground rules for treating children in military school and ordinary school are still basically the same in terms of governing the education of children. The only basic difference is the choice in career. Careers for graduates in military school are more or less set already towards the different armed services of the military.
Only when the child in military service is clearly emancipated by operation of law and is called on full active duty can the parents finally conclude their child support is no longer needed.
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