Court Opinion

ID: 9599758
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 01:21:14.458847+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:01:46.882597
License: Public Domain

VAN CISE, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. Under the circumstances of this case, I would deny the mother’s motion for payment of college expenses and would grant the father’s motion to dismiss.
The question for decision in this case is whether the adult child, Karen, became emancipated when she attained the age of twenty-one. “If she is, the father has no duty to continue child support payments under the [Uniform Dissolution of Marriage] Act.” Koltay v. Koltay, 667 P.2d 1374 (Colo.1983).
What constitutes emancipation is a question of law. In re Marriage of Robinson, 629 P.2d 1069 (Colo.1981). Therefore, the trial court’s determination is not binding on review. Maltby v. J.F. Images, Inc., 632 P.2d 646 (Colo.App.1981).
In Van Orman v. Van Orman, 30 Colo. App. 177, 492 P.2d 81 (1971) (cert, denied 1972), this court held that emancipation occurs as a matter of law when a person attains the age of twenty-one. In Koltay, supra, the court stated that:
“Emancipation ordinarily occurs upon the attainment of majority.... At that age a person is presumed to possess the physical and mental capabilities to support himself, to establish his own residence, and in general to manage his own affairs. Under normal circumstances, parents have no legal obligation to support their children beyond the age of majority....

“[F]or purposes of the child support provisions of the ... Act, the attainment of the age of twenty-one ... creates a presumption of emancipation.”
The court then determined that there was an exception to this general rule, holding that:
“If a child is physically or mentally incapable of self-support when he attains the age of majority, emancipation does not occur, and the duty of parental support continues for the duration of the child’s disability.”
I agree with the Koltay exception; however, the exception does not apply to the instant case. In Koltay, the child was held not to be emancipated because she was totally incapacitated. Here, we have a twenty-one year old college student who is in good health and physically and mentally capable of gainful employment to support herself. Apparently she is unable or unwilling to work full time only because she is attending college. Under these circumstances, there is no valid reason to create *660another exception. I would hold that there is no legal obligation on the part of either parent to support this adult child.