Question about CS

[PaulG]

Hello. My original post was "Question/advise on emancipation in NY". My 19yr old daughter moved out and was suing me for CS (we are in NY). She wanted to live with her boyfriend and did not want to work or go to college.

My daughter's boyfriend threw her out after 4 months because she refused to get a job and help w/the rent. My ex (in CA) flew in and took our daughter to CA.  The ex tried to sue me for custody at the same time my daughter was suing me for support...

The court date was Jan 6 for both cases. The courts threw out my daughter's case. The courts also threw out my ex's case – they said custody is not an issue for a 19 yr old. They said 19 yr olds can live wherever they want to and they refused to "give custody" to my ex.

My ex will most likely have her lawyer file for child support. This is absolutely outrageous. My daughter is going to be 20 yrs old. She emancipated herself. Then I guess she becomes un-emancipated.

Can I be ordered to pay CS until my daughter is 21 even though, she emancipated herself & nobody has custody of her?

Also, my daughter needs to work full time now because if she's not a full time student, she is no longer covered under anyone's medical benefits. I have no problem keeping her under my plan, but she has to be in school full time.

No college will accept her, she was dismissed from her college because she was on academic probation then she stopped going to class, withdrew unofficially, failed every class this past semester and her GPA is now a .925

Can I request jurisdiction be changed? My daughter chose to live in CA. No one forced her.

Thanks
Paul

[socrateaser]

>Can I be ordered to pay CS until my daughter is 21 even
>though, she emancipated herself & nobody has custody of her?

This is a leading question. The NY court has authority to determine whether or not the child has emancipated herself, and until the court makes that determination no one can answer your question about whether you can be ordered to pay. If she is determined to be emancipated, then no, you can't be ordered to pay. If she is not determined to be emancipated, then, under NY law, you CAN be ordered to pay.

>Can I request jurisdiction be changed? My daughter chose to
>live in CA. No one forced her.

You can request anything you want, but at the moment NY has jurisdiction, and in my opinion, a NY court will not relinquish jurisdiction for determination of your support obligation, without the consent of the other parent.

However, as far as I know, a request like the one you are proposing has never been tried with your unique circumstances involved. That is, the child is now residing in a State whose courts would not have authority to make you pay for a 20 year old child's college education, whereas you are living in a state whose courts do have such authority.

I realize that this all seems very unfair to you, however, even if you were to move to CA today, it is quite possible that a CA court would consider your duty of support to remain based upon the law where your divorce originally occured (NY), rather than under CA law.

So, if you feel like trying a novel approach, pack your bags and move to CA, and you may just fall off the hook. But, as long as you continue to reside within the borders of the great State of NY, you can be ordered to pay child support until your child reaches 21 years of age.

One more thing. You have posted the same basic questions, phrased differently, three times now. And, three times now, I have VERY thoroughly answered your questions. So, unless you have some new information to add or some new questions about a legal issue, I'd appreciate it if you would review my prior answers to you before you ask me the same thing for a fourth time.

Cause if you do ask me the same thing again, I ain't gonna answer you.

Thanks in advance!

[PaulG]

Sorry about that... In my jumbled head the questions seemed different, but looking at them now, they are the same. I apologize...

Thank you so much for all of your help.
Paul