GET STARTED Banking & Savings Financial Planning Estate Planning Insurance CREDIT & DEBT Manage Debt Create a Budget Credit Basics Repair Credit Protect Credit MONEY MATTERS Buying a Car Paying for College Buying a Home Healthcare Taxes LIFE EVENTS Marriage Divorce Widowhood Children Retirement INVESTING Get Started Stocks Bonds Mutual Funds IRA 401(k) Glossary CAREER Find a Job Back to Work Choose a Career The Workplace Working Mom

E-mail this page

Who Must Pay Child Support... Page 2

continued

No matter what the circumstances, if you believe that your ex is interfering with your visitation rights, the appropriate remedy is to go back to court to have your rights enforced rather than to stop making support payments.

4. How long must parents support their children?

Biological parents and adoptive parents must support a child until:

• the child reaches the age of majority (and sometimes longer if the child has special needs or is in college)
  
  
• the child is on active military duty
  
  
• the parents' rights and responsibilities are terminated (for example, when a child is adopted), or
  
  
• the child has been declared emancipated by a court. (Emancipation can occur when a minor has demonstrated freedom from parental control or support and an ability to be self-supporting.)

5. Do fathers have the same right to child support as mothers?

Yes. If you're a father with custody, you have the right to ask for child support. Each parent has a duty to support his or her children, and that duty doesn't discriminate between genders.