Preface: In New York State, parents are generally legally responsible for supporting their children until the children are twenty-one years old.
New York State Son, who is under the age of twenty-one, has a full-time retail job.
Despite Son’s employment, Mother currently helps Son pay his bills out of her own earnings and a trust fund.
Mother seeks to be relieved of supporting Son, arguing that Son has emancipated himself by his full-time employment.
Child support obligations typically end when a child becomes emancipated.
An intermediate level appellate court in New York concludes that Son’s job does not constitute emancipation, because Son is not financially independent. Son relies upon additional support from Mother to get by.
Therefore, the New York court holds that Mother cannot terminate her obligation to support Son before he is twenty-one.
Note: In Florida, parents are generally legally responsible for supporting their children only until the children are eighteen years old.
