child support question for New York State

[nysoccermom]

I am new to this board.  My husband has a son who is 18 yrs old and a senior in high school and will graduate in 4 months, in June.  My husband and the birth mother never married.  His original support order does not say til when support is supposed to be paid.  He will be 19 years old in August.  We have some questions about support for his son.  When does support typically end, I have read conflicting information.  His son will not be going to college and has a full time job waiting for him when he gets out of school.  I have read his support payments continue until he child is 21 year old, is this correct even if the child is working full time, no longer going to school, and supporting himself and paying his own bills?  If anyone can answer this for me, we would appreciate it.  Also, in my husbands court order he reimburses the mother for 50% of all uninsured medicals bills, what happens in June when he is no longer in school and not able to be covered under his mother's health insurance, if his job does not have health insurance and even if it does, is my husband still responsible for 50% of all his uninsured medicals bills.  We do not have a lawyer and cannot afford one.  Just wanting some help in this area.

Thank you so much,

[joni]

I'm reading it that it ends when he graduates because he'll be emancipated, capable of working full time.

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New York Child Support at a Glance
(provided by Robert E. Nowak , Esq.)

Child Support: child support is payment pursuant to a court order by agreement for the care and maintenance of any unemancipated child under 21 years. The case law and statutory law are quite clear in that both parents have an equal obligation to support the children of the marriage. The support obligation will terminate prior to the age of 21 years if the child becomes emancipated. Emancipation is a question of fact but would include, among other things, the marriage of the child, the full-time employment of the child, or the child residing way from the residence of the custodial parent.

On September 15, 1989 the Child Support Standards Act (CSSA) became effective. This sweeping new legislation (sometimes unofficially called the "guidelines") amends Section 240 of the Domestic Relation Law to require that the court provide for the child support and that an award of child support be made in accordance with subdivision 1-b of that section. Identical child support provisions were included in Section 413 (1-b) of the Family Court Act.

[KAT]

Agree. Buy it appears, at least to me, you have to file in order to emancipate him.  Termination of support at 21 or emancipation as determined by court. I'd obtain a consult with a pit bull family law attorney immediately. From what I understand NY (& NJ) emancipation can be tricky.
You guys really need to do something up there about this. It might not help you now, but it could help your son in the future to force NY guidelines to be more reasonable. Paying support until a child is 21 does nothing to prompt them into education/career training or even obtaining employment. It only enables the lazy ones to sit on their butts all day. What a crock.
Luckily, your son isn't like that.
KAT