A Texas court may order child support beyond a child’s 18th birthday if the child is still in high school, whether a public school, a private school, or course that provide joint high school and junior college credits. The child must comply with the minimum attendance requirements in the Education Code or the private school’s minimum attendance requirements. Tex. Fam. Code. Ann. § 154.002. A mother challenged the termination of child support for her son after his 18th birthday in a recent Texas custody case.
The divorce decree ordered the father to pay monthly child support until one of the listed events occurred. Child support would continue if he was in compliance with the requirements in Tex. Fam. Code. Ann. § 154.002.
The father petitioned to terminate child support in September 2018, following the son’s 18th birthday in April. The mother claimed the son was enrolled in an accredited secondary school. She then filed a petition for continuation and increase of child support and alleged her son was enrolled full-time in a private secondary school.