How long does child support last in California?

What the law says

Family Code section 3901(a)(1): “The duty of support imposed by Section 3900 continues as to an unmarried child who has attained 18 years of age, is a full-time high school student, unless excused pursuant to paragraph (2), and who is not self-supporting, until the time the child completes the 12th grade or attains 19 years of age, whichever occurs first.”

Paragraph (2) excuses the full-time requirement if a physician documents a medical condition that prevents full-time attendance, and section 3901(b) says parents may agree to provide more. Section 3910(a) gives each parent “an equal responsibility to maintain, to the extent of their ability, their child of whatever age who is incapacitated from earning a living and without sufficient means.”

Under section 4007, an order tied to an event, such as the child’s minority, ends when the event happens, and a parent who keeps accepting payments without notifying the paying parent must refund what accrued afterward, after any overdue support is covered. Past-due support does not expire: section 291(a) says a judgment for child support is “enforceable until paid in full or otherwise satisfied.”

• Family Code section 3901 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 3910 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 4007 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 291 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)

What to do next

Read your order for its end date or end event. If the child turns 18 during the senior year, the questions are full-time enrollment and whether the child is self-supporting. To change an order, end it, or ask for support for an incapacitated adult child, file a Request for Order with a current FL-150, which rule 5.260(a) requires for support hearings (in some child support cases the simplified FL-155 can be used instead).

• California child support guide
• FL-150, section by section
• Free California child support calculator