Child turns 18 and moves to live with non custodial parent

I am a Texas attorney, but generally the two parents have to do what is ordered by the Divorce Decree until it is modified by a court. In this case, the payment of child support by the father through college was agreed to by the parents (in Texas, if there is no agreement to the contrary child support payments end when a child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever occurs later). If the father tried to transfer the case to Florida and ask a Florida court to modify the divorce decree and force the mother to pay for college, he probably would be unsuccessful because she is 18 and out of school, and the mother never agreed to pay child support through college.

Child support cases involving multi-state jurisdiction can be complicated, but as a threshold matter, under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), Massachusetts child support law will continue to control your wife's case, even though the child has moved to Florida. The downside for the father is that he will probably be required to litigate child support in MA unless he undertakes the complicated process of having the case transferred to FL (in which case MA law could still control). The upside for him is that MA child support law is among the most generous in the nation for custodial parents, and MA provides stronger post-majority (after 18) child support than Florida, which is somewhat more limited in this regard. That being said, your real question seems to center on whether the father is entitled to child support (versus which state has jurisdiction over the case). The answer to the question depends greatly on specific facts I do not know. As a general matter, however, I will say your wife probably has an "uphill climb" if she plans on arguing that the father should not receive child support because he coerced an adult child into moving in with him in FL. Under MA law, it is certainly the right of any parent to seek child support if an unemancipated child is living with them by filing a Complaint for Modification, regardless of what the divorce decree says. In other words, if you put aside the "coercion" issue, the father is probably in a strong position to request child support from your wife under the MA Child Support Guidelines. While I can't speak to FL law, in MA a judge has the authority to deviate from the Child Support Guidelines in his or her discretion. (Again, in most cases, the state where the original order was issued will retain jurisdiction over a modification, even if the child moves out of state.) The challenge for your wife sounds like it involves providing strong enough factual evidence to make a judge believe that this is one of those rare cases in which a non-custodial parent should not be required to pay child support because of the specific facts involved. The fact that her daughter is not a minor is probably not helpful in this regard. Because the daughter is an adult, the court is probably somewhat less likely to care *why* she moved to Florida and focus more on the fact that she is now principally dependent on her father. In these economic times, the decision regarding whether or not to hire a lawyer is often a function of money: how much will a lawyer cost, how much money is at risk if your wife is ordered to pay child support, etc. That said, the basic story you describe suggests that your wife needs a lawyer if she hopes to prevail, although it is impossible for me to say this with certainty without knowing many more facts. Disclaimer: the answer provided herein is for informational purposes only and is expressly not legal advice.