Opinion ID: 1996224
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Heading: Common-Law and Statutory Requirements for Parental Support of Children.

Text: We first consider the extent of common-law or statutory requirements for parental support of children. A. Common law. At common law a parent's obligation to support his or her child ends when the latter becomes of age, unless the child is physically or mentally unable to care for itself. Davis v. Davis, 246 Iowa 262, 266, 67 N.W.2d 566, 568 (1954); Addy v. Addy, 240 Iowa 255, 258, 36 N.W.2d 352, 354 (1949); Blachley v. Laba, 63 Iowa 22, 23-24, 18 N.W. 658, 658 (1884). At common law the time one became of age was twenty-one. 42 Am. Jur.2d Infants § 5, at 16 (2000). In Iowa this age was lowered by statute to nineteen in 1972. 1972 Iowa Acts ch. 1027, § 49. The following year it was lowered to eighteen. 1973 Iowa Acts ch. 140, § 49. It has remained at this age ever since, except as altered by statute in specific situations not relevant here. B. Iowa Code chapter 252A. Michael's child-support obligation was adjudicated pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 252A in 1984. When this obligation was originally established, chapter 252A provided that a child-support obligor was required to pay for his or her child or children under eighteen years of age ... a fair and reasonable sum according to his or her means, as may be determined by the court. Iowa Code § 252A.3(2) (1983). This under eighteen years of age limitation for support actions under chapter 252A has been retained until the present time. The corresponding provision of chapter 252A at the time of the latest child support order on February 6, 2001, rendered a child-support obligor who is a parent but not a spouse liable for the support of the parent's child or children under eighteen years of age, whenever the other parent of such child or children is dead, or cannot be found, or is incapable of supporting the child or children, and, if the liable parent is possessed of sufficient means or able to earn the means. The court having jurisdiction of the respondent in a proceeding instituted under this chapter shall establish the respondent's monthly support payment and the amount of the support debt accrued and accruing pursuant to section 598.21, subsection 4. Iowa Code § 252A.3(2) (1999). [1] Subsection 4 of section 598.21 (1999) provided for monthly support payments consistent with the child-support guidelines. Our child-support guidelines have never included provisions that relate to postsecondary educational subsidies. We are satisfied that at no time following the original support order against Michael has chapter 252A obligated him to provide a postsecondary educational subsidy for children eighteen years of age or older. [2] C. Iowa Code chapter 600B. Iowa Code section 600B.1 provides: The parents of a child born out of wedlock and not legitimatized (in this chapter referred to as the child) owe the child necessary maintenance, education, and support. Later in the same chapter, it is provided, [f]or the purposes of this chapter, ` child ' means a person less than eighteen years of age. Iowa Code § 600B.39. D. Iowa Code chapter 598. The source of the claimed entitlement, which the court of appeals confirmed on equal-protection grounds, is Iowa Code chapter 598. There are several pertinent provisions in this chapter with respect to the support of children. Iowa Code section 598.1(9) provides:  Support  or  support payments  means an amount which the court may require either of the parties to pay under a temporary order or a final judgment or decree, and may include alimony, child support, maintenance, and any other term used to describe these obligations. For orders entered on or after July 1, 1990, unless the court specifically orders otherwise, medical support is not included in the monetary amount of child support. The obligations shall include support for a child who is between the ages of eighteen and nineteen years who is engaged full-time in completing high school graduation or equivalency requirements in a manner which is reasonably expected to result in completion of the requirements prior to the person reaching nineteen years of age; and may include support for a child of any age who is dependent on the parties to the dissolution proceedings because of physical or mental disability. Iowa Code section 598.21(4)(a) provides: [U]pon every judgment of annulment, dissolution, or separate maintenance, the court may order either parent or both parents to pay an amount reasonable and necessary for supporting a child.... There shall be a rebuttable presumption that the amount of child support which would result from the application of the guidelines prescribed by the supreme court is the correct amount of child support to be awarded. Another provision of section 598.21 provides: The court may order a postsecondary education subsidy if good cause is shown. .... b. A postsecondary education subsidy shall be payable to the child, to the educational institution, or to both, but shall not be payable to the custodial parent. Iowa Code § 598.21(5A). As we have previously noted, at the time of the several determinations of Michael's child support obligation that have taken place since 1984, section 598.21(5A) was not applicable in determining his support obligation. The court of appeals was correct in concluding that, based on the applicable statutory law, Michael was under no obligation to provide any type of child support for Jared after Jared attained his eighteenth birthday.