In most cases, an adult child does not have legal standing to sue their parent for unpaid child support. It is the custodial parent who has the right to receive child support in South Carolina from the non-custodial parent, and the right continues until the child reaches the age of 18 or the child finishes high school, which comes later.
If the child were to drop out of high school, the child support obligation would end. A local South Carolina lawyer would be able to provide more information about when child support should end.
It is important to note that child support does not end automatically. The parents must act, either going to court to inform a judge that the time has come for support to end or informing the Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) in the South Carolina Department of Social Services to stop the payments when the circumstances indicate that child support may end.
Courts order the payment of child support when it is indicated by the child’s best interests standard. In calculating child support, South Carolina courts refer to guidelines in South Carolina law regarding the amount that is appropriate.
If the non-custodial parent does not pay the full amount of child support that they are required to pay, they accumulate a debt. The debt is the past due child support that the paying parent was required to pay by court order but did not.
Generally, in South Carolina, the parent who was supposed to receive the child support when the child was a minor continues to have the right to collect support that is past due even after the child becomes an adult at the age of 18. A parent who is owed a large amount of unpaid child support would want to consult an attorney about the issue.
Again, the right to sue to collect unpaid child support belongs to the custodial parent who was supposed to receive the support when it was due. In South Carolina, there is no statute of limitations on lawsuits to collect past due child support.
There is one situation that allows an adult child to sue for back child support under South Carolina law. If the parent to whom the debt of unpaid child support is owed should pass away and the child should become the representative of the deceased parent’s estate, then a court would allow the adult child to recover the amount owed but only for the estate of their deceased parent.
This would be the case if the court appointed the adult child as the estate’s representative. If the child were named in the deceased parent’s will as the heir who should receive the award of past due child support, then the adult child could receive the unpaid child support as their personal asset.
When Is Child Support Owed to an Adult Child?
As noted above, if the custodial parent has passed away, and the adult child for whom the support was paid has been appointed as the representative of the parent’s estate, the adult child, as the representative, would have legal standing to sue the custodial parent to collect the back child support for the estate.
In this situation, the amount of the unpaid back support would be owed to the estate of the deceased parent. The adult child only has the legal right to sue because they are the representative of their deceased parent’s estate. The amount collected would belong to the estate and be distributed per the terms of the custodial parent’s will or the laws of intestacy.
If the adult child were not the representative of the estate, then the person who is the representative would have the right to pursue the non-custodial parent for back-due child support. This assumes, of course, that the legal action would come within the statute of limitations, as discussed below.
An adult child who is disabled and so unable to earn a living and support themselves may be able to get child support beyond the age of 18 or 19.
As noted above, child support is normally paid until a child is 18 years old, 19 if the child is still in high school and dependent on their parents financially. The obligation to pay child support comes to an end when the child turns 19 or finishes high school, whichever happens first.
Some parents choose to extend child support through their child’s college years in a parenting plan on which they have agreed through negotiation or mediation. Some parents may make other stipulations in their settlement to extend child support past the legal age for paying support. They would want to put an agreement to this effect in a consent order.
If it is justified by the circumstances of the family, a court in South Carolina might order a parent to pay child support for an adult child through their college years.
What Is a Lawsuit for Child Support in Arrears?
A court orders one parent to pay child support to the other in cases in which the parents do not live together with their child for any number of reasons. It might be ordered as part of a divorce or a legal separation.
Generally, the parent who does not have custody pays the parent who does. Or custody might be ordered if the parents share custody, but one parent has greater financial resources than the other.
Usually, child support is paid monthly. If it is not paid when due, it is still owed. A parent might not pay as required by the applicable court order for a long period of time. Again, the debt accumulates with each missed payment.
In South Carolina, both parents who receive child support and parents who pay it may get help with child support from the state’s DCSS, as noted above. The DCSS can help a parent get an order for child support and enforce child support orders. It also helps parents with medical support orders.
When someone opens a case with South Carolina DCSS, it then has a record of all child support payments made in the case. It offers other services as well, including collection of child support that has not been paid.
One way to avoid ending up with past due child support is to seek the help of the South Carolina DCSS as soon as a parent’s child support is not paid on time. The DCSS can help ensure that support is paid when it is due.
What Are Some Issues With Lawsuits for Child Support in Arrears?
In South Carolina, the only situation in which child support arrears may be forgiven is if the custodial parent chooses to do so. The custodial parent may do this by obtaining a court order or a negotiated consent order.
However, the court may make exceptions to this rule and award less or more than five years worth of past due child support. This would depend on any special circumstances and what the court views as the interests of justice and the best interests of the child.
Do I Need To Hire a Lawyer for Help With Unpaid Child Support Issues?
If you have not paid the child support you have been ordered to pay, you want to consult a South Carolina child support attorney. Or, if you are a parent who has not received the child support you are owed, you, too, want to consult a South Carolina child support attorney.
LegalMatch.com can connect you to an experienced attorney who can analyze your case and help you recover the child support you are owed or manage payment of the child support you are required to pay. You do not want to allow the issue to fester. Get a lawyer’s help today and take the steps that can put the issue to rest.
