Child Support for Dependent or Disabled Adult Children
Can a parent in Georgia be required to support an adult child who has a disability?
Yes, in the near future, a parent in Georgia may be required to financially support a disabled adult child. The Georgia General Assembly passed new laws regarding a parent's duty to financially support his or her disabled adult children that will become effective July 1, 2024. The new laws will affect all applicable cases filed on or after July 1, 2024.
Currently, a parent's duty to financially support his or her child generally stops when the child turns 18 years old, dies, marries or becomes emancipated---whichever first occurs. See generally O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(e) ("Duration of child support responsibility"). The court may extend the duty of child support beyond this general duration if the child, who has not previously married or become emancipated, is 18 years old and still attending high school, but the child support cannot be ordered to continue after the child turns 20 years old.
The new laws going into effect on July 1, 2024 in Georgia creates a new cause of action for support for disabled adult children and may, in some sense, extend the duration of support for children indefinitely. Specifically, a parent may be ordered to financially support his or her dependent adult children and maintain life insurance for the dependent adult children indefinitely.
Who is Considered a Dependent Adult Child?
The new O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15.1(a) defines "dependent adult child" as an unmarried individual who is 18 years old and "is incapable of self-support as a result of a physical or mental incapacity that began before the individual reached the age of majority." The interpretation of the phrase "physical or mental incapacity" may be subject to litigation at both the trial court and appellate court level.
Because of the inclusion of the term "unmarried" in this statute, it appears that an adult child who would otherwise be qualified to receive support from his or her parents will not be able to if that adult child is married.
While the new laws regarding support for a dependent adult child will be a part of Chapter 6 ("Alimony and Child Support") until Title 19 of the Georgia Code, this new type of support is not the same as alimony or child support. For example, the Georgia Child Support Guidelines will not apply to support for a dependent adult child. See O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(p) (effective July 1, 2024). Further, this new type of support was not included in the new O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(e) ("Duration of child support responsibility").
How to Request Child Support for Dependent Adult Child
Request during a Divorce or Separate Maintenance Action
Request by Filing an Original Action
How Much Child Support will I be Awarded for my Adult Child?
O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15.2(a) (effective July 1, 2024) empowers the trial court, in its exercise of sound discretion, to order either or both parents to pay support for the dependent adult child, and directs the court to consider the following factors to determine the specific terms and conditions of such support:
- The dependent adult child's income and assets;
- Any existing and future needs of the dependent adult child directly related to the child's mental or physical incapacity and the substantial care and personal supervision directly required by or related to that incapacity;
- Whether a parent or other person pays for, or will pay for, the care or supervision of the dependent adult child or provides, or will provide, substantial care or personal supervision to the dependent adult child himself or herself;
- Each parent's financial resources;
- Any other resources, financial or otherwise, or programs available for the support, care, and supervision of the dependent adult child;
- Any government (state and federal) programs and benefits available to the dependent adult child; and
- The effect that the court-ordered support would have on the dependent adult child's eligibility for such programs and benefits.
Further, either or both parents may be ordered to maintain life insurance for the benefit of the dependent adult child.
The amount of support ordered may be modified subsequently based upon a substantial change in a parent's or child's ability to provide support. See O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15.2(b) (effective July 1, 2024).