Can I reduce child support if kid is in college?

Q. My youngest has a full scholarship to college in California.  She loves it out there and didn’t even come home last summer.  She plans to continue to get internships in the movie business during her summers and live in LA permanently.  This year she is sophomore, living off campus.  I pay her rent out of the 529 funds that my parents set up for her since the scholarship only covered board if she lived on campus.  I also send her money from time to time to help with her expenses, but I can’t do much more because I still give her mom $500 per week for child support.  Emily is  20 and I know child support goes until at least 21 if she is still in school.

I asked my ex if she would agree to stop child support so I can directly help Emily more now, but she said she and her new husband just bought a new house which has an extra bedroom for Emily so she needs the money to pay her mortgage.

Is there anything I can do to reduce my child support? It seems wrong I am paying for my former wife’s mortgage with her new husband so she can provide a bedroom for Emily if Emily chooses to visit.  Is it worth going back to court?

A. Unfortunately my answer is a resounding “probably.”  You can file a complaint for modification asking to reduce and/or eliminate child support alleging that Emily is emancipated meaning she is not living with either you or your ex-wife.  If Emily was returning home during all of her breaks to one of you, she would be domiciled with you and likely still be unemancipated.

You should ask Emily if she has changed her voter registration so that she can vote in California and if she has changed her driver’s license to California.  Don’t involve her in the child support conversation because she does not need to feel the tug between her parents.

If she has done one or both of these things, you have now additional facts toward your conclusion that she is emancipated. If she has not taken these steps, wait until she has secured an internship/job for next summer.  When you know she has one and will not be coming home, you should file to terminate child support because you now have two summers of her living independently as evidence of emancipation.

Email questions to whickey@brickjones.com