Ex can’t decide to halve child support

My oldest turned 18 last month. Last week my ex reduced his child support payment by $500. He said he gets to do that now because she is 18 and that’s what the child support guidelines say. I don’t know why he gets to cut his support in half because she is still in high school and still lives with me. Although she will go to college in the fall, she will still come home to my house.

Our children are very lucky — my grandmother left an education trust that pays for their college educations but it does not pay for anything else. I lost my job during COVID so things are even more tight than usual — my new one doesn’t pay as much.

I don’t have the money to fight a losing battle so if he is right, please just tell me now and I will figure it out. But if he doesn’t really get to just cut his support in half, I want to do something about it.

Unless your agreement provides for an automatic reduction by $500 per week upon your oldest turning 18, he does not just get to cut his payments in half. The proper way for him to address the issue would have been to file a complaint for modification. At that point, he would have to prove the change in circumstances to the judge.

He is not wrong that the child support guidelines are currently designed in such a way that support decreases when a child turns 18. But it is not automatic and does not happen in every case. The idea behind the reduction at 18 was that the payor would then be contributing to college education, which would further stretch resources. It sounds like this is not something he will face for your daughter in light of the trust.

I suggest you file a complaint for contempt to address his selfhelp here. He will be obligated to make you whole for the weeks he reduced his support without court permission. If he then takes the right steps of filing a complaint for modification, ask for a copy of his paystub so you know his current income. You do not need to do anything until he files a motion with the court to reduce his support.

Then run child support guidelines using the form available on the Mass Trial Court website. You should prepare the worksheet as if your daughter was not yet 18 and again with her being 18 to see the difference in the order. Bring a copy of the trust to the hearing along with both worksheets. Ask the judge to continue support as if she was not yet 18 because your expenses have not decreased and your ex is not contributing to college.

The guidelines are just that — guidelines. Judges still have discretion to decide support and applying the guidelines is unfair in some circumstances including, it seems, yours.