At Modification can u change longer support to 21 college?

Ok if someone had order in place for a long time and now child is almost 18 and wants to go to college- could the original out of state order be changed to include that and maybe make age 21? The out of state order said support ends at 18 or if still in high school age 19. But that was over 10 years ago and now college is needed more than ever! ( the state they will have their modification hearings now is Florida which I think law says 18 also?) Cause  the father is a bum and no way he will PAY for college by choice!

SHe do not want to waste precious funds she has for kids college on a court fight but if it is really possible -friend is giving it a consideration!

No, they cannot. FL will not order child support beyond age of 18 (or graduation from high school) and will not order college to be paid for.

 Laymans guess:

That might not be the correct legal analysis--the criteria might be that of the original jurisdiction which we don't know.

The parents don't get to hide behind rules of new state for less support or more support.

If the original order provided for college support, then Florida would enforce it.  Florida will not amend the original order to add it.

I'm sure DOCAR is way more likely to be correct--but I still think it odd if say the original jurisdiction was a state which allowed college to be added even later or one of the states that allowed child to proceed against parent to provide college  that the child basically would be denied the benefits of the rules of the original jurisdiction --but all this is moot if the original jurisdiction doesn't have any such more generous coverabe. Mine, PA, specifically bars it!

New York is the only jurisdiction that will grant support through college, but you have to ask for it in the original order, as a general rule they do not add it later considering it waived if it was not asked for.  The party is free to go back to the issuing state and ask for it.   Florida just will not add it later, even if permitted in the issuing state;.

Actually a number of states provide for college.  But if everyone has left that jurisdiction it may be unlikely to be heard there--and we don't know if OP came from any such state.

The odds for OP to force NCP to contribute to college look DIM or worse.

As an aside-married parents have NO duty to provide for college and its a bit of a discrimination problem to require divorced or unmarried parents just because of that status to provide more--and I think that was the legal basis in PA for its supreme court to bar college from the equation

As a practical matter there are lots of ways to get a great college education for very little final cost.

Somehow the phrase "I am aware of" got left out of my post.  I am sure there are others, I just don't know which ones.

A father is not a bum just because he wont or cant pay or college. Intact families are not forced to pay for it? Most states will not do this. The child is going to have to apply for scholarships and or grants and look into working part time. Both of my step kids work as many hours as they can to pay for their college unless a family is weathy its impossible for many parents to pay for it. My husband has 2 kids in college..soon to be a 3rd here in a few months. We have 2 kids of our own. It is impossible fopr us to pay for much of it. The kids are hispanic so they were encouraged to apply for scholarships, pell grants and I believe the youngest is getting an AIMS scholarship.

The Custodial parent can talk to Dad to see if they would be willing to pay for some of the college but it is their choice.

Clubpen:

now college is needed more than ever!

MANY parents erroneously believe that and it just isn't true.  Over the past two generations parents have succumbed to the idea that their kid(s) HAVE to go to college or they just won't be a success and that just isn't true.  My brother attends automotive school and makes WAY more than many college graduates, has no student loans, and has had no trouble finding a job.  Studies have shown that jobs like plumbing, electrician, and other skilled blue collar workers are screaming for good people and there is a shortage.  It used to be recognized that not everyone was college material and trade schools were highly beneficial to some people.  Too bad that perception has shifted.  Many kids who are not cut out for college are forced to go by their parents and the money as well as time and effort are wasted.

Clubpen:

child is almost 18 and wants to go to college

Good for them.  One thing they need to do up front is figure out how they will cover the costs without assuming parents will.  

Clubpen:

the father is a bum and no way he will PAY for college by choice

He isn't a bum because he won't indulge the kid's desire to go.  MANY parents with the financial means to pay expect their kids to finance advanced education.  It isn't cruel and unusual punishment to do so.  Dad has a choice even if the parents were still maried.  This sense of entitlement to post HS education at Mom and Dad's expense has to stop.  In reality, it takes one catastrophic event: illness, job loss, death to wipe out savings and the kid might have to scramble.  The sooner they learn how to provide for themselves the better they will function in life.  

But I know women who are still recieving child support and the child does not even live with them anymore and that is ok? Seems like we pick and choose depending on who you are and how devious one is? This support system is SERIOUSLY flawed for both parents and kids!

Clubpen:

But I know women who are still recieving child support and the child does not even live with them anymore and that is ok?

No, but it has nothing to do with this particular sitation.  It is two entirely different issues.  While a decree may stipulate that child support is paid until the child turns 18, that is NOT automatic.  The non-custodial parent must file a motion at that time to stop the child support based upon the child reaching the age of majority, being an emancipated adult, married, or in the military are reasons to end support.  If the NCP does not file then they are still obligated to pay.

Also, if the child is residing in a dorm at school and the decree mandated that support continue while enrolled in school full time then Mom could collect legally.  The problem is you are making assumptions based upon what you believe to be occurring and not what may be the legal requirements of the individual situation.

No the system is not that flawed--it sort of says the umbilical cord gets cut around  age 18/HS graduation with some state by state variations. --If parents chose not to cut it or forget to cut it--thatis not a fault of the system--OK, some folks do hide that the courd may have been cut--but the formal reasons to cut the cord like enlistment in armed services  are not commonly hidden from view.

What is flawed is that society lacks strong tools we are willing to use  to make parents do the duties they are supposed to do --and to large extent the sins of the parents are either visited upon the child or the  taxpayers in general. 

Sending your kid to college is rarely a required duty nor is buying him a car or a cell phone

If a mother is collecting CS for a child not living with them, then that is dishonest and probably some sort of fraud. The person paying it should notify the courts. It has nothing to do with divorced parents being forced to pay for college and non divorced parents not being forced to. Divorce is a financial hard ship on all involved. My parents have been married 40 something years and paid for no college for us kids....none of us have a degree. Even though none of us have degrees, We all make between 45k-90k a year.

You will lose that argument, support ends at 18 no college.