GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT · FAMILY LAW + FAMILY-VIOLENCE DEFENSE
Under C.G.S. §46b-84(b), support generally continues until the child turns 18 — or, if the child is unmarried, living with a parent, and still a full-time high school student, until completion of twelfth grade or age 19, whichever comes first.
Support does not stop mid-senior-year because a birthday passed. The high-school rule exists precisely for that.
An order covering multiple children does not drop proportionally when the oldest ages out. The guideline figure for three children is not three times the figure for one, so the order does not simply reduce by a third. Adjusting it usually requires a modification — and continuing to pay the full amount in the meantime is the correct course until it is changed.
Arrears do not disappear. What accrued before the obligation ended remains owed and collectible.
C.G.S. §46b-84(c) permits continued support for a child with a qualifying intellectual, mental, or physical disability — terms the statute defines by reference to C.G.S. §§1-1g and 46a-51 — who lives with a parent and is principally dependent on that parent for maintenance.
The age limit depends on when the order was entered:
The child support guidelines do not apply to these orders. The court works from the statutory factors in C.G.S. §46b-84(d) instead, considering each parent’s circumstances and the child’s needs, income, and estate.
If you have a child with a significant disability and a support order entered before October 2023, the age-26 provision does not retroactively extend it. That is worth understanding early rather than at the child’s twenty-first birthday.
Emancipation, marriage of the child, or the death of a party can end or alter the obligation, depending on circumstances and what the judgment says.
Two routes to changing Connecticut child support: a substantial change in circumstances, or a substantial deviation from the guidelines.
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Connecticut courts can order divorced parents to pay toward college — but only if the judgment preserves the right. What §46b-56c requires.
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How Connecticut child support is calculated under the 2026 guidelines, what counts as income, and who pays for college. Glastonbury attorney Daniel M. Morton.
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