Court Opinion

ID: 7730754
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-07-30 19:44:10.127725+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:37:09.332608
License: Public Domain

Included in the trial court's calculation of the child-support arrearage is an amount representing child support for a period after the older child reached the age of majority. The law is settled that a parent owes no child support once the child reaches the age of 19, the age of majority, unless the child is entitled to post-minority support pursuant to Ex parte Bayliss,550 So.2d 986 (Ala. 1989), or Ex parte Brewington, 445 So.2d 294
(Ala. 1983). Whitten v. Whitten, 592 So.2d 183 (Ala. 1991). I advocate that Rule 32, Ala. R. Jud. Admin., be amended so that it is self-executing in a situation like this one. Once a child reaches 19, the child-support obligation should be automatically recalculated in accordance with the child-support guidelines without the noncustodial parent being required to file a petition to modify based upon the fact that the child had reached 19 years of age. See State ex rel. Howard v. Howard, 671 So.2d 83
(Ala.Civ.App. 1995) (Crawley, J., dissenting).