Effective July 1, 2019:
As of July 1, 2019, the law governing termination of child support has been modified. Under prior law, child support stopped on a child’s 19th birthday, unless the child was incapacitated.
This caused a problem for families with teens who were still in high school at 19. This modification is intended to cover a gap discovered after the age of child support termination was lowered from 21 to 19 in 2012. The bill’s author, Phillip GiaQuinta wrote the bill after hearing about
cases in which these kids are forced to make a difficult choice between finishing high school and getting a job to support themselves, and it’s because the law prevents them from receiving child support.”
Child Support past the child’s 19th birthday is not automatic. You have to file a notice with the court that issued the child support order. There are some strict timing requirements. The court notice can’t filed until the child is 17 years old, and it must be filed before the child’s 19th birthday. The notice has to include the child’s expected graduation date and proof of high school enrollment.
Once a notice is filed, the other parent has 30 days to object. Unless an objection or request for hearing is filed by that deadline, the court may automatically extend support without a hearing.
The language of the modified statute can be found online at: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2019/bills/house/1520#document-6ec262b5
