If you have questions about divorce, legal separation, alimony pendente lite, or alimony in Connecticut, please feel free to call the experienced divorce attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport today at 203-221-3100 or email Joseph C. Maya, Esq. at JMaya@Mayalaw.com.
The Connecticut Supreme Court found upheld a lower court’s order to pay child support for his 21-year-old autistic daughter until her high school graduation, because the order’s duration was governed by the law of Florida, where the order was originally issued.
The parties’ marriage was dissolved in Florida in 2002. In the final judgment of dissolution of marriage, the defendant was ordered to pay child support until the child “reaches the age of eighteen, becomes emancipated, marries, dies, or otherwise becomes self-supporting.” The parties moved to Connecticut in 2003. In 2010, the plaintiff brought a postjudgment motion for postmajority support of the child. The plaintiff claimed that, due to the child’s autism, she would not graduate from high school until after her twenty-first birthday. Under Florida law, the child was entitled to support beyond the age of majority. In 2013, the plaintiff filed a second motion for postmajority support to extend support indefinitely as allowed under Florida law. The court granted both motions, and concluded that Connecticut Statute § 46b-71 (b) made Florida law control the duration of the defendant’s child support obligation, and extended the defendant’s child support indefinitely.
The Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s decision. Because Florida was the first state to enter a child support order in the present case, the trial court properly concluded that Florida law governed the duration of the defendant’s child support obligation.
For a free consultation, please do not hesitate to call the experienced family law and divorce attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport, CT at 203-221-3100. We may also be reached for inquiries by email at JMaya@mayalaw.com.
Source: Studer v. Studer, 131 A.3d 240, (Conn. 2016)
