Providing Divorce Mediation Services Throughout California
Providing Divorce Mediation Services Throughout California
Dina Haddad and her team provide expert mediation services for Californians. If you want help related to any family law issue, call us or book a consult.
Curious when you can stop paying or receiving child support in California? You are not alone. Generally, child support ends when your child turns 18; however, there are exceptions: a child can be supported until they graduate high school, if the child is disabled, or if you have special agreements.
Knowing when child support ends can help you avoid issues and assist you in planning financially. Whether you pay or receive child support, understanding your responsibilities can keep you from making expensive mistakes. Get clarity and help by booking a FREE Child Support Consult with Dina Haddad – California’s expert child custody mediator.
California Family Code Section 3901 describes specific child support obligations that cannot continue past certain conditions. These parameters ensure that children’s financial needs will continue to be met, while also providing parents with a sense of certainty regarding their child support obligations.
If you understand what these parameters are, especially the new child support laws in 2025 for California, you can better handle terminating child support once the conditions have been satisfied. The following are those standard parameters in California:
Most child support obligations will end on a child’s 18th birthday and the graduation of high school, or as California refers to it, the age of majority. Both conditions must be met. However, just because a child is legally able to make decisions, this does not mean your obligations stop.
In order to legally end your support obligation, check your last court order. Either it terminates automatically upon a condition or date, or you will need to proactively terminate it. If you have a wage garnishment without an end date, you would be responsible to terminate it.
In other words, under California Family Code Section 3901, support continues if your unmarried child is enrolled full-time in high school until graduation or 19 years old, whichever comes first.
If your child drops out prior to graduation, support generally terminates immediately, unless the child re-enrolls within a reasonable amount of time.
The California Family Code protects children by ensuring they receive financial support until they are able to support themselves. Every child support modification requires court approval; informal agreements between parents do not bind the court.
When a court closes your case, it must carefully review the evidence presented before it, check to see if it is in compliance with the law and issue an official termination order to protect the parties in question.
If paternity has been successfully challenged and established, child support obligations can cease immediately, regardless of age. You will need to file a motion that includes genetic testing evidence.
Child support is then abated as the court will decide if support should cease as well as whether you can recover any payments made in the past through legal action.
If your child leaves your home for financial independence, the child support agreement may end early if the child is under 18 years of age.
You will need to establish that the child is self-supporting and not under the control of a parent. You will need court approval to modify a child support order based solely on these changed circumstances.
While most child support is terminated at the age of 18 or 19, California law permits exceptions in specific situations that may allow child support to continue beyond the years when it would generally be terminated, or terminate earlier than expected, depending on each child’s unique circumstances.
Under California Family Code Section 3910, support may even continue for life for adult children with disabilities who are unable to provide for themselves.
Courts in California may even order regular payments to be made into a special needs trust to preserve government benefits, such as Medi-Cal.
You will be required to demonstrate the child’s inability to care for themselves and the need for ongoing financial support through medical documentation.
You and your co-parent can choose to agree voluntarily to support each other after age 19 for expenses related to a college education (or other circumstances).
Court-approved agreements are legally enforceable. An agreement to support without court approval is only an unenforceable contract, which a party can walk away from without any legal effect.
If the child is emancipated by marriage, military enlistment, or court order of emancipation before age 18, the obligation for support stops at the time of emancipation.
Emancipated minors are legal adults and self-sufficient and independent. You need to file a motion requiring evidence of your child’s emancipation status, to terminate your obligation to pay support.
Support also terminates when the child dies or becomes completely financially self-sufficient. These situations will require a court order as documentation, allowing the support order to be modified or terminated.
The courts always look at the “best interests of the child” when considering how long to order support. The court considers the child’s state of development, their financial needs, the available financial resources, their educational aspirations, and their living situation (i.e., their residence).
In all cases, judges can extend or modify the terms of support when there are special circumstances that provide additional protection for the child’s well-being and development, beyond what is normally provided by the termination rules.
Too many parents have misunderstandings concerning termination of support that can cause unintended legal trouble and financial consequences. Knowing the difference between myths and reality can save you expensive consequences.
This isn’t true. The legal requirement to pay child support does not automatically terminate when your child turns 18. If your wages are being garnished, you may need to file a motion with the family court, provide evidence of your child’s age or graduation status, and wait for a judge to approve your motion.
You remain legally bound to pay support, and if you don’t get a court order terminating your support, you risk accruing arrears and other payment consequences (like having your wages garnished, your assets seized, or being held in contempt of court). This would likely happen if you do not have an automatic end date for your child support order.
Reality: Unless your agreement states when child support ends, you may have to take action to legally terminate child support obligations in the court system.
Many parents make the mistake of believing they can stop payments informally without having to go to court.
This is a common mistake, and it often has severe consequences. Even if parents agree to stop support either verbally or in writing, the original court order remains in place until the court judge modifies it.
Reality: Any (child support) modification must be approved by the court. Informal arrangements are not legally binding, and simply results in an accumulation of arrears.
Many parents feel obligated to pay child support if their child attends college. However, California law does not require support while the child is pursuing higher education.
Child support typically ends at the termination age, unless the parents contractually obligate themselves to continue paying child support to cover college expenses.
The key is that there is no obligation up to the termination age unless the parents have made a voluntary agreement in court.
Reality: In California, a parent is not required to pay child support if their child attends college, unless it is specified in a court agreement.
Some parents think that remarrying will change their support order or termination dates. The income of your new spouse usually does not affect existing support orders or the start date of when they end.
Reality: Your remarriage does not affect the dates of when child support terminates. The original terms of support remain in effect until a proper court order modifies them.
Studies indicate that 85% of child support cases are resolved through mediation, which is a less exhausting option compared to pursuing litigation.
A good example of this is when Sarah’s son turned 18. She and her ex-husband decided to mediate their child support issue instead of going through litigation. Not only did they save thousands of dollars in attorney fees, but they were able to move forward as co-parents.
If you want to terminate child support when your child turns 18 in California, there are certain steps that you need to follow. Here’s how:
Related: Book a FREE Child Support Consult with a Child Custody Mediator today!
It is very rare for children in California to be self-supporting at the age of 18 and high school graduation. Many parents that receive child support will still have adult children living with them.
When the recipient parents’ support ends, the child support transition can be difficult, especially if adult children are still living at home.
For the paying parent, they may often feel relief at the end of a formal child support order and may see an increase in disposable income after support stops. However, we have seen many paying parents willing to continue adult child support in a less formal way.
Consider attending mediation together to determine whether there is a feasible financial situation for you as it relates to adult child support costs.
In California, child support typically terminates at 18 and high school graduation or 19 if still in high school. However, in some situations, support may continue past age 19 if there is a disability or a stipulation in the parental agreement.
Child support will only “automatically” terminate if the prior court order had the proper language in it. If your prior court order does not, take the appropriate steps to make sure your order will terminate.
Second, take this opportunity to discuss with the other parent adult child support costs and with your child their plans to be self-supporting. Ready to navigate child support termination properly? Schedule your FREE Child Support consultation with Dina Haddad today.
In general, child support terminates when a child reaches 18 years and graduates high school (whichever is later). If your unmarried child is still a full-time high school student, support will continue until the child graduates or turns 19 (whichever is first).
Child support amounts vary depending on the parents’ income, custody plan, and all incomes calculated through the California guideline calculator formula.
The State uses a complicated mathematical formula that takes into consideration various factors, including the amount of time spent parenting, the costs of health insurance, and legally mandated payroll deductions, to determine child support payments.
Yes, retirement accounts, including 401 (k) plans, can be garnished for unpaid child support obligations and arrears in California. The state has extensive enforcement abilities to seize assets, freeze accounts, and intercept tax refunds when you fail to make payments.
In general, having another child does not automatically result in a reduction of existing child support obligations in California courts. However, you can ask for modification based on new financial circumstances, but just know that the courts will look at the established support for the first child before the new child.
