Child support is an important obligation between parents and their children. It is often ordered by courts or agreed to by parents when those parents end their marriages or their relationships. Child support is intended to be used to provide children with what they need, such as clothing, housing, transportation, food and other necessities.

However, certain events can happen that can bring child support obligations to their ends. Many Illinois child support orders terminate when the children who are covered by them turn 18 years old. Others end when the kids are 19 years old and still in high school.

There are additional events that may terminate child support agreements and orders. The emancipation of a child can cause a child support obligation to end, and there are several different ways that emancipation may be achieved. One of the most direct paths to emancipation that a child may take is marriage. Once a child is in a marital relationship their parents’ obligation to support them ends.

Also, a child may emancipate from their parents by joining a branch of the armed services. Military duty will cause a child to become released from their parents’ control and as such parents are also released from providing financial support for their child.

A child may pursue their own independence and those actions may constitute the end of a child support order or agreement. If a child leaves their parents’ homes, gets a paying job and seeks to live on their own, their parents may be released from their financial duties.

Emancipation can be a tricky legal issue when it comes to child support. Parents are encouraged to get help from family law attorneys when confronting how and when their child support obligations may end.