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1. Who is required to pay child support in Kentucky?

4/29/2015

 
1.  I think it most appropriate that we begin our series of Lessons with this threshold question:   Who is required to pay child support in Kentucky?

The first statute to consider is Kentucky Revised Statute (KRS) 405.020, which provides:  "The father and mother shall have the joint custody, nurture and education of their children who are under the age of eighteen (18)."  That statute has consistently been interpreted to authorize a court to require either the father and the mother, or both, to pay child support.  

KRS 403.213(3) clarifies this obligation: "(P)rovisions for the support of a child shall be terminated by emancipation of the child unless the child is a high school student when he reaches the age of eighteen (18).  In cases where the child becomes emancipated because of age, but not due to marriage, while still a high school student, the court-ordered support shall continue while the child is a high school student, but not beyond completion of the school year during which the child reaches the age of nineteen (19) years."

Kentucky law also provides for the parent to support his or her child who is wholly dependent because of a physical or mental disability.

Not to over-simplify, but anyone who is subject to a valid Kentucky Child Support Order is required to pay child support in Kentucky!  Child support can be ordered regardless of whether the parent has physical or legal custody of the child.  It can be ordered in a divorce case, a paternity case, a custody proceeding, a case involving the neglect or abuse of a child or a domestic violence case.  

A child support obligation is terminated only when a court orders it to be terminated.  It does not stop simply because the parent is in jail or prison, loses his or her job, ever visits with the child, or has lost the right to visit with the child.  It does not necessarily even stop when the parent dies! Are you kidding me?  No, see KRS 403.213(3)!  

In the next 24 Lessons, we will examine some of the most common questions about the law that I ruled on as a judge in determining whether to issue a valid child support order, how much was to be paid, and how to modify and enforce those orders.
 
Now at least you know a little bit about who is required to pay child support in Kentucky, so have a great day!


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    Judge John Schrader is a Husband, a Father, and a Lexington Attorney providing legal and mediation services in the office of Sherrow, Sutherland & Associates, P.S.C.

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    CHILD SUPPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS
    1. Who is required to pay child support in Kentucky?
    Publish Date: April 29, 2015
    2. What do I do to obtain a Kentucky Child Support Order?

    Publish Date: April 29, 2015
    3. How is child support calculated under the guidelines?
    Publish Date: April 30, 2015
    4. What is considered “gross income” for child support calculations?
    Publish Date: May 5, 2015
    5. How do I find out what the other parent's income is?
    Publish Date: May 6, 2015
    6. What about income from self-employment or business income?
    Publish Date: May 7, 2015
    7. What if a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed?
    Publish Date: May 13, 2015
    8. What if one parent is paying maintenance?
    Publish Date: May 13, 2015
    9. Is there an adjustment to a parent's "gross income" if he or she is supporting a prior-born
    child?

    Publish Date: May 13, 2015
    10. What happens in a split custody arrangement where Sissy lives with Mother and Jr. lives with Father?
    Publish Date: May 20, 2015
    11. When can a judge deviate from the child support “guidelines”?
    Publish Date: May 20, 2015
    12. When the parents' combined monthly adjusted gross income exceeds $15,000 per month, how is child support calculated?
    Publish Date: May 20, 2015
    13. How does Kentucky law deal with the big-ticket item of childcare expense?
    Publish Date: May 27, 2015
    14. Do parents have to maintain private health insurance for their child, and if so, who pays
    for it?

    Publish Date: May 27, 2015
    15. Who pays for deductibles and co-pays and how do we deal with extraordinary medical expenses not covered by the insurance?
    Publish Date: May 27, 2015
    16. How does a parent actually recover the proportionate share of extraordinary medical expenses from the other parent?
    Publish Date: June 3, 2015
    17. What if I find out the other parent has not been paying for childcare even though I have been paying for my share?
    Publish Date: June 3, 2015
    18. How do I get a modification of child support in Kentucky?
    Publish Date: June 3, 2015
    19. When does child support terminate?
    Publish Date: June 10, 2015
    20. Is a Wage Assignment Order required for child support in Kentucky?

    Publish Date: June 10, 2015
    21. What does the court do about child support when the child spends a considerable amount of time with both parents?
    Publish Date: June 10, 2015
    22. What is involved in collection of child support?
    Publish Date: June 17, 2015
    23. How does the law deal with enforcement of the child support order when my ex and I
    live in two different states?

    Publish Date: June 17, 2015
    24. If Kentucky does not have jurisdiction over the other parent of my child, what is the UIFSA process to deal with establishment, enforcement and modification of child support
    orders?

    Publish Date: June 17, 2015
    25. What about parents who were not husband and wife to each other when their child was
    born?

    Publish Date: June 24, 2015
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