Also known as: parental supports · child support obligation
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal obligation of parents to furnish financial resources necessary for the care, maintenance, and education of their minor children. The obligation belongs to the child as an independent right that parents may not diminish or eliminate by private agreement.
Priya Prasad obtained a support order in New York requiring monthly payments for her daughter until age twenty-one. After moving to North Carolina, Priya registered the order there and sought continued payments after the child turned eighteen. The North Carolina court applied New York law to determine the duration of the obligation and denied termination.
Priscilla Parks received AFDC benefits for her children while living in a household that exceeded the state's payment cap. She challenged the cap as denying equal protection because larger families received no additional aid per child. The Court upheld the cap as a rational means of allocating limited public funds among needy families.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Patricia Patel sought admission to a state nursing school that excluded men on the theory that women bore primary responsibility for child-rearing and thus needed the training. The Court struck down the exclusion, rejecting the assumption that parental support duties fall exclusively on mothers.
Pilar Pena was denied a marriage license because an existing support order for his children remained unpaid. He argued the restriction violated his fundamental right to marry. The Court recognized that states may enforce support obligations but found the outright denial of marriage an excessive means of collection.
Piper Patel sought a downward deviation from guideline support after her income dropped following a job loss. The court examined the statutory deviation factors, including the child's needs and each parent's resources, before denying the request because the reduction would leave the child without adequate support.
Pearl Porter faced civil contempt for nonpayment of child support and requested appointed counsel because she could not afford an attorney. The Court held that due process does not categorically require counsel in every civil contempt proceeding for support arrears when the opposing party is not the state.
No. A child's right to support is independent and belongs to the child, not the parents. Courts refuse to enforce any contractual term that reduces support below the level the parents' actual resources would otherwise require.
Supporting sources
The law of the issuing state governs the nature and duration of the obligation, including the age of emancipation. Registration for enforcement does not transfer control over substantive terms such as duration to the forum state.
Supporting sources
No. Any provision that limits the form or amount of support available to the child adversely affects the child's independent right and is unenforceable. The court will disregard the restriction and calculate monetary support under applicable guidelines.
Supporting sources
No. Parents cannot contract to shield income or assets from child support. The court must base the support order on the parents' actual financial resources regardless of the agreement's terms.
Supporting sources
…one way, the law may be seen as simply a collection device additional to those used by Wisconsin and other States for enforcing parental support obligations. But since it operates by denying permission to marry, it also clearly reflects a legislative judgment that a person should not be permitted to incur new family financial…