Can child support be ordered for disabled adult-child?

Yes it can.

There is an important circumstance when the court may order child support to continue beyond that child’s age of majority and into adulthood. For the court to order such support, the adult-child must have a significant mental or physical disability that prevents him or her from living independently. The controlling Arizona statutory provision is found in A.R.S. § 25-320(E):

     E. Even if a child is over the age of majority when a petition is filed or at the time of the final decree, the court may order support to continue past the age of majority if all of the following are true:

          1. The court has considered the factors prescribed in subsection D of this section. [Court has applied the Arizona Child Support Guidelines.]

          2. The child is severely mentally or physically disabled as demonstrated by the fact that the child is unable to live independently and be self-supporting.

          3. The child's disability began before the child reached the age of majority.

For this provision to apply in any given case, the adult-child must have manifested the disability during minority. The court may order support to be paid to the adult-child or to the parent who provides for the care. The parent seeking support need not be the adult-child’s legal guardian or legal custodian before the court can order such support. In the event the adult-child has no guardian or custodian, he or she should be joined as an indispensable party to the support proceedings.

At the end of the day, support is about caring for the child’s basic needs. Any personal differences between the parents should not affect the financial support that a child is entitled to. For some parents, support ends when the child reaches the age of majority. For other parents, it may not end until the child has graduated from college. And for some parents, the support may continue into their disabled child’s adulthood.

The experienced family document prepares at Discount Divorce assists clients throughout Arizona, including the cities of Ahwatukee, Avondale, Buckeye, Chandler, El Mirage, Flagstaff, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sun City, Surprise, Tempe, Tolleson, Tucson and Youngtown.

Visit www.discountdivorcepro.com or call (602) 896-9020. Discount Divorce is located at 13817 N. 19th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85023-6105.

As always you should seek legal advice for specific issues like the one above before coming to Discount Divorce to have your documents done and processed so that your legal rights may be protected.