KID WASN’T RESPONSIBLE FOR RELATIONSHIP “BREAKDOWN”
In 2021, within the context of a Suffolk County Family Court case, a father sought to end his support obligations for two children – Kevin (born 2003), and Phoebe (born 2004) – claiming “constructive emancipation” (because he hadn’t spoken to his kids since September 2018). After the Family Court judge granted that request only as to the older offspring, an appeal followed.
While a parent is legally obligated to support a child until the age of 21, an exception arises when the youngster is of “employable age” and “actively abandons the noncustodial parent by refusing all contact and [parental access].” But when the parent is responsible for that “disconnect,” such “abandonment” will not be deemed to have occurred and the support obligation will not be extinguished.
Since the record established that the father was the “primary cause of the breakdown in the relationship between him and the older child,” the Appellate Division, Second Department, reversed the underlying determination and reinstated the support requirement.
Now wow supportive was that?
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