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Ok, I can't believe this...

But the 17.5 year old and his mother are moving to OR. Supposedly, she has been laid off. But we are a bit suspicious since her boyfriend moved to OR and she's looking for an excuse to go there (and she tried to ditch the kid on my in-laws last week without mention of layoff).

We have all been going round in circles the last few months about college. Basically - child's grades are terrible, his study habits are terrible, and his mother refuses to do anything to reign him in. We have been upfront about what we are willing and able to pay for re: college (basically, continuation of current cs under CA law) provided he gets at least a part-time job, is a full time student, allows us access to grades, and we pay money to school directly.

Well, OR has their lovely little "continuation of support" rule. Geez, what idiots.

Anyway, 18th bday is June 18. They are moving by beginning of new term (Jan).

Since support order is in CA, I am assuming it would have to be moved to OR. At that point can she ask for it to be set at CA amount, and not be recalculated? What will they do about her income since she is unemployed at the moment?

And, what is college support based on? Is it based on a recalculation after the child is 18 or is it simply a continuation of the child support amount?

And can he go after HER for college support also, or only the NCP at the time he was a minor?

"... provided he gets at least a part-time job, is a full time student, allows us access to grades, and we pay money to school directly."

Why don't you just add... provided he lives with you and attends college locally?

Exactly what does NCP's order state when referring to college? Sure, some things you do have control over, such as paying tuition directly to the college and requesting access to grades.

Child support in itself ends according to the emancipation age and rules. College support could end up to be more or less than what was originally paid as child support, depending on the college costs.

If you're speaking of FAFSA, it's my understanding that the household income of the parent the child lived with full-time will be used. If the mother has considerably less income to show, it may benefit the son. He may get a larger award towards tuition.

I think your inference is unfair and accusatory. Furthermore, you are making some big assumptions.

The current CA order states CS ends when the child is 18. The case is in CA. CA makes no provisions for adult support.

We are fully versed in FAFSA and have no interest in it... since he lives with her it's her ball game.

What I am looking for but can not find in any Oregon rules is how the state regards income for a professional who probably makes around $60k per year, who was just laid off (or quit voluntarily), and who is living with her boyfriend who owns his own home in OR (and doesn't need her to pay rent). Does OR do as CA and impute income based on past two years income?

Regarding child support amount in OR, I notice you can enter the amount of previous child support and where it's coming from... but I see nothing about requesting a specific amount of support in place of the OR calculations.

And no, we do NOT, apparently, have control over where the money goes once the child is 18 and under CAS orders... it goes to the child. He can choose to pay tuition or not. Pay rent or not. Buy books or not. If we were able to manage the payments we could at least ensure the money goes to the school and not out the window.

Sure, he may flunk out or get kicked out for nonpayment, which in theory stops our payments (after we fight it out with the state)... but then we just ride the roller coaster the next time he manages to register at a school who will take him. The fun won't end til he's 21.

The State of Oregon defines the age of emancipation as 18 years old or 21 years old if attending school half-time or more.

Sorry you took that as inference or some big assumptions. I was being serious. Why not invite him to move to AZ and attend school there? After all, in reality there is no more "custody" as soon as he turns 18. If he agrees, you might be able to set some ground rules applicable to your household, assuming he will be using it as his primary address.

[i]In Oregon, child support is automatically terminated at 18 years of age if not addressed in the court order for support. The date of the court order does impact what law is applied, as revisions have been made to the statute. Beneficiaries that qualify as a "child attending school" under ORS 107.108 have different requirements based on whether the most recent Oregon child support order or a modification was entered before or after 10/4/1997. For child support orders dated prior to 10/4/1997, the child must be attending school at least half-time. [b]For child support orders dated on or after 10/4/1997, the child must be attending school at least half-time, maintain a "C" grade average or better, and submit compliance documents within 30 days from the start of each term or semester.[/b] Also, for orders dated on or after 10/4/1997, a prorated share of the support is paid directly to the child based on the number of children for whom support is ordered.[/i]

Here's the way I would see this. Since the original order was not established in OR at all prior to 1997, they may allow a modification of the order to reflect their additional rules from 1997 on. So long as the support is disbursed as child support, you won't have any control on how it's spent as it will have nothing to do actually paying for college itself.

[i]Since support order is in CA, I am assuming it would have to be moved to OR. At that point can she ask for it to be set at CA amount, and not be recalculated?[/i]

The amount will stay the same, unless the CP asks for a modification.

[i]What will they do about her income since she is unemployed at the moment?[/i]

They will use her most recent w-2's and 1040's as income.

[i]And, what is college support based on? Is it based on a recalculation after the child is 18 or is it simply a continuation of the child support amount? And can he go after HER for college support also, or only the NCP at the time he was a minor?[/i]

If the original order did not address college at all, NCP may not be under any obligation for son's college expenses. Some parents agree to split costs 50/50, one parent may agree to assume full responsibility, etc. It all depends on what the original order states.

If she's successful at having the order both transferred and modified in time the order can be continued as child support. If the original order mentions college, then the NCP will not only have to continue the child support, but will have to pay the additional amounts agreed upon towards college. When child support is calculated the CP's prorated share is also calculated prior to setting the NCP's obligatory amount.

I apologize, I read "Why don't you just add... provided he lives with you and attends college locally?" as an insinuation that we were trying to control his life. Which we aren't.

The child has issues: he's late to class, absent from school, and has a gpa in the toilet. He was given the option to live with us and preferred not to... but would live with his elderly grandparents an hour away. We declined to allow him to do that because his grandparents are not up for the experience. Life is easier with his mother. Fewer rules, lower expectations. He won't live with us because we have rules and expectations. We have offered to help him gain AZ residency after he graduates (and he says he wants to come to AZ), but now that she is taking him to OR I doubt he'll come here to school. Even if he comes to AZ he won't live with us... again, too many rules.

Does anyone know that if the child support order is moved from CA to OR if it is mandatorily modified in any way? Will they try to insert the ORS 107.108 language if it is not modified? If it is modified (amount and at her request) will they automatically insert it? Do we have an opportunity to request modifications to the order?

What really chafes us is that we've been working very hard to help him understand that he is responsible for himself, and his academic future. This law takes all of the teeth out of our bite if he is messing up at school - and he is definitely smart enough to exploit it. Additionally, we have built our family's financial future around our current plan... and now just because they move to OR at the last minute, with this asinine law, our financial stability must go out the window?

Can the child petition to STOP the CAS even if the CP asks for it? I ask because we will make it crystal clear that if he pursues CAS, CAS is all he will get (unless he has a perfect college record). All funding will stop at 21 - probably 1-2 years prior to him finishing school.

[quote]But the 17.5 year old and his mother are moving to OR.[/quote]
Does she not have to get the court's permission to move out of state?
[quote]Since support order is in CA, I am assuming it would have to be moved to OR. At that point can she ask for it to be set at CA amount, and not be recalculated? What will they do about her income since she is unemployed at the moment?[/quote]
She can petition the court to move the support order, but I don't know how long she has to live in OR before she can make that request. It would be recalculated using Oregon's income-shares formula. And it's entirely possible that her income would be imputed because she chose to leave her job.

[quote]Well, OR has their lovely little "continuation of support" rule. Geez, what idiots.[/quote]
According to my Internet searching, the support order must contain a provision for support after 18. Your husband should apply to have the case terminated as soon as June's payment has been made.

"137-055-5110
Child Attending School
The purpose of this rule is to provide additional information as to how the Child Support Program (CSP) will apply the provisions of ORS 107.108 when the order or modification provides for support until the child is age 21, so long as the child is a child attending school in accordance with ORS 107.108."

This is my understanding of how things work, and I'm surprized it hasn't been mentioned. If your husband was (at the time of the initial cs order) and still is a resident of California, then California retains jurisdiction for child support. It is possible that Oregon could enforce a California order if the mother registers the order in Oregon, but California statutes would determine the amount of cs and the end of cs, not Oregon.

If there is nothing in the original order stipulating support beyond 18 years, or college support, then cs stops at 18 per California statutes (which would be the statutes that apply in the case of California's continuing exclusive jursidiction.)

It would be wise to control the payment of college tuition by paying the school directly. There is nothing wrong with having this control, especially given the issues your step son is having.

Your husband could fight the moveaway, but his son is so close to 18 that that might not be worth it. With only 6 months of support left, it also would not make sense to modify the amount of cs, but if that happened mom's income could be imputed based on her earning potential.

Yes that's true. As long as either one of the divorced couple continues to reside in the state that issued the order, that state will retain jurisdiction. From previous posts, though, she mentioned living in AZ.

I totally missed the part about AZ. I'd like to know more about how jurisdiction works when continuing jursidiction does not apply. I think that some aspects of the original order are unmodifiable, in that case. What can you tell me about how that works?

Yes, we live in AZ.

CA rules say, in general, that wherever the child is the case is. I assume that means support also.

So... I'm sure CA would release the order to OR.

The original order terminates at 18 or finish of high school - for our case it's the same month.

I have no idea how OR law works... our case has been in CA the whole time.