What's in an end date answer
Each state page explains when a child support obligation ends in that state under its own statute, then lets you enter a child's birth date and graduation date to find the date. Every legal figure is tied to a cited source; see our methodology for how we verify each one.
Four questions that set the date
The end date is a matter of state law, and states answer the same four questions differently, so a rule that is true in one state can be wrong in the next:
- The base age — the age at which the obligation ends when nothing else applies.
- High school — whether support continues while the child is still in high school after reaching that age, and until what age at the latest.
- College and adult children — whether a court can order support for post-secondary education, and whether support can continue for an adult child with a disability.
- Emancipation and termination — which events end support early, such as marriage or military service, and whether it stops automatically or a parent has to file something.
Support that came due before the end date does not go away. Under federal law (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(9)) each installment is a judgment from the date it is due, so past-due support stays collectible after the obligation ends; see the arrears calculator for that side of the question.
We do not publish an age for any state until we have read its statute, so a state page appears only once its rule is verified against the code.