Also known as: support right · rights of support · right to support · support obligation
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
Rights to receive financial maintenance from a spouse or parent for the support of a spouse or child.
Rights to receive financial maintenance from a spouse or parent for the support of a spouse or child.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Rights to lateral or subjacent support for land from adjacent or underlying property.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Rights to lateral or subjacent support for land from adjacent or underlying property.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Samantha Stone obtained a spousal support order from a tribunal in State A after her divorce from Sebastian Santos. When Sebastian relocated to State B, Samantha petitioned the State A tribunal to increase the support amount due to changed circumstances. The State A tribunal exercised authority to modify the order while the obligation remained in effect.
Sophia Singh and Spencer Silver signed a premarital agreement that eliminated any future child support obligations. After their child was born and the couple divorced, Sophia sought support. The court refused to enforce the waiver term because it adversely affected the child's right to support.
Stella Shapiro obtained a child support order in New York, where the obligation continues until age twenty-one. After registering the order in North Carolina, where emancipation occurs at eighteen, Stella sought continued payments for her nineteen-year-old child. The North Carolina court applied New York law to determine the obligation's duration.
Seth Shapiro cohabited with Stella Shapiro in the good-faith belief they were married after a ceremony later found invalid. Upon separation, Seth sought maintenance. The court recognized Seth as a putative spouse and awarded maintenance rights equivalent to those of a legal spouse.
Samantha Stone sought an upward deviation from the guideline child support amount in her divorce from Sebastian Santos. She presented evidence of the child's special medical needs and the parents' disparate incomes. The court considered the statutory deviation factors before adjusting the support order.
Sophia Singh faced civil contempt proceedings for nonpayment of child support after falling behind due to job loss. She requested appointed counsel because incarceration was possible. The court evaluated whether the proceeding's nature required counsel to protect her liberty interest.
The law of the issuing jurisdiction governs the nature and duration of the child support obligation, including the age of emancipation.
Supporting sources
A tribunal that issues a spousal support order consistent with its state's law retains continuing exclusive jurisdiction to modify the order throughout the obligation's existence.
Supporting sources
A term in a premarital agreement that adversely affects a child's right to support is unenforceable.
Supporting sources
A putative spouse acquires the rights of a legal spouse, including the right to maintenance, subject to apportionment with any legal spouse.
Supporting sources
…lives and safety, but rather was special legislation enacted for the sole benefit of the surface owners who had released their right to support. Id., at 512-518 , 118 A., at 499-501. The company promptly appealed to this Court, asserting that the impact of the statute was so severe that "a serious shortage of domestic fuel is…